Definition of "crouch"

crouch¹

/kɹaʊt͡ʃ/

verb
third-person singular simple present crouches, present participle crouching, simple past and past participle crouched
1. (intransitive) 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.
  Quotations
  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.
  1922, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in Jacob's Room
2. (intransitive) To bend servilely; to bow in reverence or humility.
  Quotations
  kings ſhall crouch vnto our conquering ſwords,And hoſtes of Souldiers ſtand amazd at vs,When with their fearfull tongues they ſhall confeſſeTheſe are the men that al the world admires,
  c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, (please specify the page)
  Must I stand and crouch Under your testy humour?
  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, [Act IV, scene iii]
  a crouching purpose
  1816, William Wordsworth, Thanksgiving Ode
noun
plural crouches
1. A bent or stooped position.

crouch²

/kɹaʊt͡ʃ/

noun
plural crouches
1. (obsolete) A cross.
verb
third-person singular simple present crouches, present participle crouching, simple past and past participle crouched
1. (obsolete) To sign with the cross; bless.

Definition of "crouch"

crouch1

verb

Quotations

Quotations

noun

crouch2

noun

verb

crouch¹

crouch²