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
Local officials echoed state of emergency declarations and issued travel bans while the tens of millions of people under blizzard warnings hunkered down.
—
Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 24 Feb. 2026
Thousands of air travelers scrambled to make alternate arrangements or simply hunkered down and waited at South Florida’s three international airports Monday as a blizzard that dropped up to 2 feet of snow all but paralyzed most of the Northeast.
—David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 23 Feb. 2026
The couple hunkered down with 15 other people, including a man in his 80s and a mother with her 1-year-old daughter.
—Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
During the Holocaust, many Jews hid in the Białowieża Forest, constructing shelters from natural materials or hunkering down in swamps.
—Elizabeth Flock, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
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Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 24 Feb. 2026
Thousands of air travelers scrambled to make alternate arrangements or simply hunkered down and waited at South Florida’s three international airports Monday as a blizzard that dropped up to 2 feet of snow all but paralyzed most of the Northeast.
—David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 23 Feb. 2026
The couple hunkered down with 15 other people, including a man in his 80s and a mother with her 1-year-old daughter.
—Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
During the Holocaust, many Jews hid in the Białowieża Forest, constructing shelters from natural materials or hunkering down in swamps.
—Elizabeth Flock, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
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 25 Feb. 2026.
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