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
Juano said his goodbyes and skied down to a bus that would to take him home to Bariloche, while Tyler and I hunkered down in the hut for a few more days.
—
Scott Yorko, Travel + Leisure, 4 Oct. 2025
The absence of a deal and the scant progress are prompting both sides to hunker down, with the blame game only escalating as the hourglass winds down toward Tuesday evening.
—Al Weaver, The Hill, 29 Sep. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for hunker down
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Scott Yorko, Travel + Leisure, 4 Oct. 2025
The absence of a deal and the scant progress are prompting both sides to hunker down, with the blame game only escalating as the hourglass winds down toward Tuesday evening.
—Al Weaver, The Hill, 29 Sep. 2025
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
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 6 Oct. 2025.
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