Link Centre Dictionary

hunch

UK/hʌnt͡ʃ/ US/hʌnʃ/ fairly common
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.

an impression that something might be the case

  • “he had an intuition that something had gone wrong”
Synonyms
2.

the act of bending yourself up together

verb

1.

Origin

Assibilated variant of hunk, of uncertain origin. Alternatively, a derivative of hump, via an earlier Middle English *hunche, *humpchin, from *hump + -chin, -chen (diminutive suffix), equivalent to hump + -kin. In the sense of an intuitive impression, said to be from the old gambling superstition that it brings luck to touch the hump of a hunchback.

Phrases

  • follow one's hunch
  • hunch cuddy hunch
  • hunch over
  • play a hunch
  • play one's hunch

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.