---
title: hunker — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «hunker» in the school dictionary: To hunker is to squat or crouch down low, often on the heels, or to sit low on a branch or a seat. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# hunker

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**Who acts:** boy · **What happens:** hunker, be, crouch down, sit, hunker down, hide · **To what, where:** heels, branch, wall, old man, birds

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«hunker» in the school dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 3 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [hunker in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/hunker.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To hunker is to squat or crouch down low, often on the heels, or to sit low on a branch or a seat.

<!-- fold The tree, 23 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:hunker:m1:1
# text = To hunker is to squat or crouch down low, often on the heels, or to sit low on a branch or a seat.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	hunker	hunker	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	squat	squat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	crouch	crouch	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
8	down	down	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
9	low	low	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	often	often	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
12	on	on	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	heels	heel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	sit	sit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
19	low	low	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	xcomp	_	_
20	on	on	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	branch	branch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
23	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
24	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	seat	seat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hunker** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | squat *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **crouch down** | infinitive |  |  |  | the heels |  | low *property* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on heel=Location |
| 4 | **sit** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | a branch or a seat |  | low *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on branch=Location |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The boy hunkered down behind the wall to hide.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:hunker:x1:1
# text = The boy hunkered down behind the wall to hide.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	hunkered	hunker	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	down	down	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	hide	hide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hunker down** | past | the boy |  |  | the wall |  | down *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **hide** | to-infinitive | the boy *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old man hunkered by the fire.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:hunker:x2:1
# text = The old man hunkered by the fire.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	hunkered	hunker	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hunker** | participle |  | the old man *not said here* |  |  |  | by the fire | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The birds hunkered on the branch in the rain.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:hunker:x3:1
# text = The birds hunkered on the branch in the rain.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	hunkered	hunker	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	branch	branch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hunker** | participle |  | the birds *not said here* |  | the branch |  | in the rain | tree rules |

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**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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