See Also: crouch(1)(dictionary)
crouch(2)(dictionary)
crouch(dictionary)
Crouch ware(dictionary)

crouch(2) (iou)



crouch verb & noun2. LME.
[Perh. from Old French crochir be bent, from croche (see CROTCH).]
A. verb.
verb intrans. Of a person: stand (or sit) low with the legs bent close to the body, as for concealment or shelter or in fear; formerly also, bend low in reverence. Of an animal: stand low with bent legs and tense body, in fear or readiness to spring. LME.
crouched burial Archaeology: with the body in a crouching posture, usu. on its side.
Oxford English Dictionary To cower concerns chiefly the head and shoulders: to crouch affects the body as a whole. S. Beckett He crouched over the fire trying to get warm.
verb intrans. Behave submissively or fawningly. E16.
Sir W. Scott I crouch to no oneobey no one.
verb trans. Bend (the knee, one's head, etc.), esp. in a cringing way. E18.
b. noun.
An act of crouching. L16.
A crouching posture used at the start of a race. E20.
Comb.: crouchback noun & adjective (obsolete exc. Hist.) (a) noun (a person who has) a hunched back; (b) adjective hunchbacked; crouch start = sense 2 above.
crouchant adjective crouching L16.
croucher noun L16.
crouchingly adverb in a crouching manner M19.