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
The End, the past year has seen a surge in speculative fictions about super-rich characters who hunker down in expensive isolation as the world burns.
—
Judy Berman, Time, 19 Sep. 2025
Making matters worse, there's a zombie apocalypse happening that sends the entire metropolis into lockdown mode, leaving everyone at the venue to hunker down inside or face the onslaught of flesh-eating monsters.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Sep. 2025
Track Testing the New Mustang GTD In full Track mode, the GTD hunkers down to lower the car’s center of gravity, while holding the traction control button on the GTD’s dash activates a Variable Traction Control mode on the gauge cluster.
—Michael Teo Van Runkle, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Take a peek behind the music in this tale about a Muscogee pop star who hunkers down at her estranged grandmother’s Oklahoma ranch to weather a public scandal and meets a grumpy cowboy.
—Jamie Harrow, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hunker down
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Judy Berman, Time, 19 Sep. 2025
Making matters worse, there's a zombie apocalypse happening that sends the entire metropolis into lockdown mode, leaving everyone at the venue to hunker down inside or face the onslaught of flesh-eating monsters.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Sep. 2025
Track Testing the New Mustang GTD In full Track mode, the GTD hunkers down to lower the car’s center of gravity, while holding the traction control button on the GTD’s dash activates a Variable Traction Control mode on the gauge cluster.
—Michael Teo Van Runkle, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Take a peek behind the music in this tale about a Muscogee pop star who hunkers down at her estranged grandmother’s Oklahoma ranch to weather a public scandal and meets a grumpy cowboy.
—Jamie Harrow, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hunker down
Cite this Entry
“Hunker down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hunker%20down. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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