crouch
verb
[ kraʊtʃ ]
• adopt a position where the knees are bent and the upper body is brought forward and down, typically in order to avoid detection or to defend oneself.
• "we crouched down in the trench"
Similar:
squat (down),
duck (down),
hunker down,
bob down,
hunch over,
bend (down),
stoop (down),
bow (down),
kneel (down),
cower,
cringe,
shrink,
huddle,
scooch,
crouch
noun
• a crouching stance or posture.
• "he dropped into a defensive crouch"
Origin:
late Middle English: perhaps from Old French crochir ‘be bent’, from croche (see crotch).
