hunkered; hunkering
ˈhəŋ-k(ə-)riŋ 
2
: to settle in or dig in for a sustained period
—used with down
hunker down for a good long wait—
New Yorker
New Yorker
Examples of hunker in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
At one point in 1958, troops there hunkered in bunkers as Communist forces rained hundreds of thousands of shells on them.
—Amy Chang Chien, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024
Then as now, people hunkered over the soil and used their hands, earning too little to feed their families, forcing many households to borrow from loan sharks.
—Peter S. Goodman Jes Aznar, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2023
Even the seagulls seemed to acknowledge the stormy conditions, and a flock hunkered on a park hillside overlooking the water.
—John Hilliard, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Sep. 2023
Here and there, compounds cobbled together out of single-wides, tarps, pallets and other flotsam, ringed by wire fencing, hunkered in the sagebrush.
—Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Aug. 2023
Looking dazed and in considerable pain, Carlo managed to get on his feet and slowly skate across the ice, hunkered over, to make his way to the dressing room.
—Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Mar. 2023
After Ukrainian soldiers tossed several hand grenades into the bunker, the Russian soldiers, including two who were H.I.V. positive, hunkered in a corner.
—Andrew E. Kramer, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2023
This affected me not at all, as I was already hunkered in my apartment with my tomes, reading and tinkering, attempting first the simple rites of Abramelin before swimming into deeper waters.
—Kent Russell, Harper's Magazine, 11 May 2022
After Ukrainian soldiers tossed several hand grenades into the bunker, the Russian soldiers, including two who were HIV positive, hunkered in a corner.
—Andrew E. Kramer, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Apr. 2023
Amy Chang Chien, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024
Then as now, people hunkered over the soil and used their hands, earning too little to feed their families, forcing many households to borrow from loan sharks.
—Peter S. Goodman Jes Aznar, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2023
Even the seagulls seemed to acknowledge the stormy conditions, and a flock hunkered on a park hillside overlooking the water.
—John Hilliard, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Sep. 2023
Here and there, compounds cobbled together out of single-wides, tarps, pallets and other flotsam, ringed by wire fencing, hunkered in the sagebrush.
—Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Aug. 2023
Looking dazed and in considerable pain, Carlo managed to get on his feet and slowly skate across the ice, hunkered over, to make his way to the dressing room.
—Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Mar. 2023
After Ukrainian soldiers tossed several hand grenades into the bunker, the Russian soldiers, including two who were H.I.V. positive, hunkered in a corner.
—Andrew E. Kramer, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2023
This affected me not at all, as I was already hunkered in my apartment with my tomes, reading and tinkering, attempting first the simple rites of Abramelin before swimming into deeper waters.
—Kent Russell, Harper's Magazine, 11 May 2022
After Ukrainian soldiers tossed several hand grenades into the bunker, the Russian soldiers, including two who were HIV positive, hunkered in a corner.
—Andrew E. Kramer, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hunker.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Hunker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hunker. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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