| 释义 |
▪ I. † hunker, n. U.S. ? Obs.|ˈhʌŋkə(r)|
[app. f. hunks n. + -er.
Remembered by Mr. W. J. Stillman as familiarly used c 1840 at Schenectady N.Y., ‘to designate a surly, crusty, or stingy old fellow, a curmudgeon’. But some would refer it to hunk n.2 as ‘one who sticks to his post, or home’.]
In U.S. politics: A conservative, one opposed to innovation or change; a nickname first used in the State of New York about 1845.
1849N.Y. Evening Post 11 July (Bartlett), He is now the leader of the hunkers of Missouri. 1856Househ. Words 9 Aug. 86/1 Hunker is derived from a popular nickname for a self-satisfied, surly rich man; a descendant of Old Hunks in fact. 1859W. Phillips Speeches 268 Egypt, the hunker conservative of antiquity. 1864Boston Commonw. 3 June, The judge, a white-haired old man, well preserved, and a stickler for law and precedent and a ‘hunker’.
Hence ˈhunkerism.
1845R. Tyler Let. 19 Apr. in L. G. Tyler Lett. & Times Tylers (1896) III. 161 Every appointment made for New York or Pennsylvania or Maryland is a restoration of Hunkerism. 1848C. A. Loomis Let. 23 Jan. in Mich. Hist. Mag. (1926) X. 216 Old Hunkerism is predominant, but it is hunkerism without brains. 1863W. Phillips Speeches 365 All this fossil hunkerism is to linger thirty or forty years. Ibid. 528, I resolve hunkerism into indolence and cowardice, too lazy to think, and too timid to think. 1906Springfield (Mass.) Weekly Republ. 6 Dec. 8 The old republican hunkerism.
▪ II. hunker, v. orig. Sc.|ˈhʌŋkə(r)|
[Origin obscure: it has the form of an iterative from a stem hunk-. Cf. MDu. hucken, huken (Verwijs and Verdam), MLG. hûken, Du. huiken (Franck), ON. húka, mod.G. hocken (Kluge) to sit on the hams or heels, to squat. These words point to an original ablaut series heuk-, hûk, huk- (hok-); from this hunk-er, might perh. be a nasalized derivative. ON. hok-ra to crouch may be a parallel form; Du. hunkeren to hanker, is not connected.]
a. intr. To squat, with the haunches, knees, and ankles acutely bent, so as to bring the hams near the heels, and throw the whole weight upon the fore part of the feet.
1720A. Pennecuik Streams from Helicon i. 80 And hunk'ring down upon the cald Grass. 1768Ross Helenore ii. 81 Upo' the ground they hunker'd down a' three. 1789D. Davidson Seasons 179 Tir'd wi' the steep, an' something dizzy, I hunker'd down. a1801R. Gall Tint Quey 177 Then hunkering down upo' her knees, Poor Hornie o' her milk to ease. 1897Crockett Lads' Love iii, He appeared..with his hands on his knees ‘hunkering’ a little. 1902Dialect Notes II. 237 (Pioneer dialect of S. Illinois.) Hunker down. 1. To crouch in sitting. 2. To kneel. 1907Kipling Actions & Reactions (1909) 187 We heard Imam Din hunker down on the floor. One gets little out of the East at attention. 1928Barrie Peter Pan 11, in Plays 39 Hunkering on the ground..the six are not unlike village gossips gathered round the pump. 1945J. Steinbeck Cannery Row vii. 26 Mack and the boys sat on the floor, played cards hunkered down. 1946K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) ix. 129 Kelly got up, came out, and hunkered down by the sunny office wall. George hunkered down beside him. 1962Coast to Coast 1961–62 85 The old woman had hunkered down, poking intently at an hibachi, some embers glowing darkly beneath. 1973N.Y. Times 14 Aug. 34/3 One 14-year-old boy sat on a hornet when he hunkered down to get a better view of the green.
b. transf. To cower or squat in a lowly manner.
1790A. Wilson Poems 210 A wee bit Cot, Bare, hunkerin' on some lanely spot.
Add:c. fig. With down. To concentrate one's resources, esp. in unfavourable circumstances; to dig in, buckle down; spec. (freq. in Mil. contexts) to shelter or take cover, lie low. orig. and chiefly U.S.
1903Dialect Notes II. 317 Hunker or hunker down, v.i...to get down to one's work. 1975Chemical Week 8 Jan. 31/2 There comes a time..when you should hunker down and ride out the storm. 1984N. Giovanni in M. Evans Black Women Writers 207 We must hunker down into that love of the spirit of Black Americans that allowed a janitor to be a deacon in a church. 1988Truck & Driver Oct. 49/2, I left the down-change too late and missed the gear. But the Fiat was kindly and just hunkered down and powered on from low revs once a lower gear was pushed in. |