How to Use hunker down in a Sentence

hunker down

phrasal verb
Definition of hunker downnext
  • And there goes the rear again, hunkering down as the clutch takes up.
    — Patrick Bedard, Car and Driver, 19 Aug. 2023
  • The main house, a long, low-slung black fortress clad in wood and glass, hunkers down on a windswept plateau.
    — Mark David, Robb Report, 3 Feb. 2024
  • The Inuit rangers told the platoon to pitch their tents and hunker down.
    — Norimitsu Onishi Nasuna Stuart-Ulin, New York Times, 4 June 2023
  • During the heat of the day, the caterpillars tend to hunker down close to the soil under the canopy of the grass, says Waltz.
    — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 13 Aug. 2024
  • In the case of a global dust storm, that could mean hunkering down for quite some time.
    — Amanda Kooser, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
  • But in January, the two sides hunkered down on the business at hand.
    — Glenn Thrush, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2023
  • And when the pack hunkers down in old ways of working, everyone else does too.
    — Shani Harmon, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
  • Bloody stretchers leaned against the wall at the entrance, and soldiers were hunkered down under the trees.
    — Carlotta Gall, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2023
  • Makes a person want to hunker down in some retro motel room and listen to the radio.
    — Laura Collins-Hughes, New York Times, 8 Nov. 2023
  • Both have an in-room sink, restroom, and shower, and larger abodes to hunker down in than the smaller roomettes.
    — Marianna Cerini, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 June 2023
  • Luckily, her neighbor in the artist colony where she was hunkered down owned an art store, and opened it for Di Novi.
    — Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 2 Aug. 2024
  • Maybe not, because we’ve been hunkered down in our houses a lot thanks to record-breaking snow.
    — Michelle Jenkins, Idaho Statesman, 28 Jan. 2024
  • Shadow was meowing and hunkered down on a rotting tree limb near the top of a 30-foot tree, about a block from his house.
    — Cathy Free, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2024
  • However, the Hawks hunkered down and survived the penalty kill.
    — Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 22 Nov. 2024
  • Or hunker down for the season in this cozy sweater from Old Navy, which is currently 50 percent off.
    — Averi Baudler, People.com, 2 Dec. 2024
  • When the tribe hunkers down for its daily repast, ritual and symbolism are the rule.
    — Pat Saperstein, Variety, 16 Oct. 2023
  • Most Burners, however, were content to take the time to hunker down and connect with friends.
    — Alden Wicker, WIRED, 7 Sep. 2023
  • New bass will find the beds in the meantime, and then those fish will often hunker down near the beds and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike.
    — Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 9 May 2024
  • Another time, the Viet Cong sprayed the brush with gunfire near where his platoon was hunkered down for two hours.
    — Phil Davison, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2023
  • But 30 years ago, a whole generation of Americans learned how to dig in, hunker down, and take sides with their tribes.
    — Sean Gregory, TIME, 11 Apr. 2024
  • Residents from San Jose to the Monterey coast were warned to hunker down on Saturday.
    — Grace Hase, The Mercury News, 4 Feb. 2024
  • On the morning of May 1, the brothers were hunkered down in a house in an industrial area of Bakhmut, which they had been ordered to hold and defend.
    — Anastacia Galouchka, Washington Post, 2 Nov. 2023
  • Joe and her team pulled to a stop in the middle of a main drag, then hunkered down inside the Suburban and behind its doors to pick off adversaries.
    — Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 27 Oct. 2024
  • Nathan Sultana, a junior, was hunkered down in a classroom unsure of what was going on.
    — Maggie Prosser, Dallas News, 14 Sep. 2023
  • The share of companies taking more than one step to hunker down ahead of the election also rose to 11% from 6% in the second quarter, the survey that closed Sept. 6 found.
    — Jonelle Marte, Fortune, 25 Sep. 2024
  • The incident caused multiple counties to hunker down and schools to close.
    — Killian Baarlaer, USA TODAY, 18 Sep. 2024
  • The snapper begins by setting his feet wide and hunkering down, making sure his butt isn’t too high or too low.
    — David Wharton, Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2024
  • Rather than engaging, his advice to his members is to hunker down.
    — David Gilbert, WIRED, 4 Nov. 2024
  • Instead of hunkering down behind a rock or in a hole, stained water gets trout moving.
    — Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 7 Mar. 2024
  • Empty nesters, who might have preferred to downsize, hunkered down in their houses.
    — Genevieve Redsten, Journal Sentinel, 21 May 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hunker down.' 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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