crouch
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#CROUCHCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#CROUCH crouchen (“to bend, crouch”), variant of croken (“to bend, crook”), from crok (“crook, hook”), from Old NorseCategory:English terms derived from Old Norse#CROUCH krókr (“hook”), from Proto-GermanicCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Germanic#CROUCH *krōkaz (“hook”), from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#CROUCH *gerg- (“wicker, bend”), from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#CROUCH *ger- (“to turn, wind, weave”). Compare Middle Dutch krōken (“to crook, curl”)Category:Middle Dutch links with redundant target parameters#CROUCH. More at crook.
Verb
crouch (third-person singular simple present crouches, present participle crouching, simple past and past participle crouched)Category:English lemmas#CROUCHCategory:English verbs#CROUCHCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CROUCHCategory:Pages with entries#CROUCHCategory:Pages with 2 entries#CROUCH
- (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#CROUCH) To bend down; to stoop low; to stand close to the ground with legs bent, like an animal when waiting for prey, or someone in fear.
- Synonym: huddle
- We crouched behind the low wall until the squad of soldiers had passed by.Category:English terms with usage examples#CROUCH
- 1922, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in Jacob's Room:
- Archer and Jacob jumped up from behind the mound where they had been crouching with the intention of springing upon their mother unexpectedly, and they all began to walk slowly home.Category:English terms with quotations#CROUCH
- (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#CROUCH) To bend servilely; to bow in reverence or humility.
- c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
- kings ſhall crouch vnto our conquering ſwords,Category:English terms with quotations#CROUCH
And hoſtes of Souldiers ſtand amazd at vs,
When with their fearfull tongues they ſhall confeſſe
Theſe are the men that al the world admires,
- 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
- Must I stand and crouchCategory:English terms with quotations#CROUCH
Under your testy humour?
- 1816, William Wordsworth, Thanksgiving Ode:
- a crouching purposeCategory:English terms with quotations#CROUCH
Translations
Noun
crouch (plural crouches)Category:English lemmas#CROUCHCategory:English nouns#CROUCHCategory:English countable nouns#CROUCHCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CROUCHCategory:Pages with entries#CROUCHCategory:Pages with 2 entries#CROUCH
- A bent or stooped position.
- The cat waited in a crouch, hidden behind the hedge.Category:English terms with usage examples#CROUCH
Translations
Derived terms
Etymology 2
From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#CROUCH crouche, cruche, from Old EnglishCategory:English terms derived from Old English#CROUCH crūċ (“cross”). Compare Old Saxon krūci (“cross”), Old High German krūzi (“cross”). Doublet of cross and cruxCategory:English doublets#CROUCH.
Noun
crouch (plural crouches)Category:English lemmas#CROUCHCategory:English nouns#CROUCHCategory:English countable nouns#CROUCHCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CROUCHCategory:Pages with entries#CROUCHCategory:Pages with 2 entries#CROUCH
Derived terms
Verb
crouch (third-person singular simple present crouches, present participle crouching, simple past and past participle crouched)Category:English lemmas#CROUCHCategory:English verbs#CROUCHCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CROUCHCategory:Pages with entries#CROUCHCategory:Pages with 2 entries#CROUCH
- (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#CROUCH) To sign with the cross; bless.
Translations
See also
- crouch ware, crouchware (etymologically unrelated)
Anagrams
Category:en:Buttons#CROUCHMiddle English
Noun
crouchCategory:Middle English alternative forms#CROUCHCategory:Middle English entries with incorrect language header#CROUCHCategory:Pages with entries#CROUCHCategory:Pages with 2 entries#CROUCH
- alternative form of crucche