hunker down
phrasal verb
hunkered down; hunkering down; hunkers down
chiefly US
1
: to lower the body to the ground by bending the legs
The hikers hunkered down under a cliff until the storm passed.
2
: to stay in a place for a period of time
The leaders hunkered down at a country estate for difficult peace negotiations.
Examples of hunker down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Officials instructed residents to close their windows and hunker down inside until the order was lifted.
—
Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 19 Feb. 2025
The amphibians have no choice but to hunker down and wait for the stream to naturally clear sediment before breeding, a process that can take years even with no additional fires to create stream-clogging sediment.
—Anton Sorokin, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Feb. 2025
This is in part because, with warmer winters, rats can spend more time eating and reproducing and less time hunkering down underground.
—Benji Jones, Vox, 31 Jan. 2025
Heading out of downtown Cape Town, the Defender settled nicely into highway driving, hunkered down for fuel efficiency and dynamics optimization thanks to the air suspension.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 30 Jan. 2025
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Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 19 Feb. 2025
The amphibians have no choice but to hunker down and wait for the stream to naturally clear sediment before breeding, a process that can take years even with no additional fires to create stream-clogging sediment.
—Anton Sorokin, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Feb. 2025
This is in part because, with warmer winters, rats can spend more time eating and reproducing and less time hunkering down underground.
—Benji Jones, Vox, 31 Jan. 2025
Heading out of downtown Cape Town, the Defender settled nicely into highway driving, hunkered down for fuel efficiency and dynamics optimization thanks to the air suspension.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 30 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for hunker down
Dictionary Entries Near hunker down
Cite this Entry
“Hunker down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hunker%20down. Accessed 23 Feb. 2025.
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