huddle
/ˈhʌd(ə)l
/verb
1 [no object, with adverbial] Crowd together; nestle closely: they huddled together for warmth...
- A crowd of grey cloaked figures huddled together, like a ragged flock of birds.
- It was a scintillating partnership that wowed the crowd and their teammates, who huddled together on the dressing room balcony to witness a stellar batting exhibition.
- Trying her best not to stare at the small groups of dirty pirates huddled together on the deck, Pearl followed closely behind Wesley.
Synonyms
crowd, gather, throng, flock, herd, pile, bunch, cluster, collect, group, congregate;
press, pack, squeeze, cram, jam
rare foregather
1.1Curl one’s body into a small space: she huddled up close to him...
- Next to us is a woman reading a book, huddled up, occasionally reaching for her glass of wine (in which the level scarcely changes all the time we are there).
- But on this particular morning she opened the front door to find a fishing box with nothing to indicate who had left it, just a fluffy puffin huddled up inside.
- The concerned father found his son, huddled up and petrified in the greasy well of the lift shift, clearly in pain from injuries he had suffered.
Synonyms
curl up, snuggle, cuddle, nestle, hunch up;
North American snug down
2 [with object and adverbial] British Heap together in a disorderly manner: a man with his clothes all huddled on anyhow...
- The wind picks up through our circle, huddling our clothes to us, and there can be heard in it the faint, restful remains of a note, as if the air had rushed through a whistling bridge before reaching us.
- Around it huddled half a score of small sheds, which shared a common wall with the great stable and leaned against it as if for shelter.
- Then they huddled bed clothes around themselves, sat up and simpered.
3 [no object] North American Have a private discussion; confer: the colonel huddled with A.J. at the dining-room table...
- At the end of the summer, the company's 19 senior guides will huddle for discussion and then provide written recommendations to the owners.
- Jake huddled with the other members of the team out on the field.
- Various clubs huddled in circles discussing their interests.
noun
1A close grouping of people or things: a huddle of huts...
- Frequently on the run, we would occupy some huddle of rough huts from one insecure night till the next.
- Branden also joined the early morning escapade, but he merely sat down next to the small huddle of human mass on the floor.
- Malouma is from Mauritania on the west coast of Africa, immediately to the north of Senegal, and could rarely have encountered such an unhelpful context in which to impress the huddle of promoters and journalists.
Synonyms
crowd, gathering, throng, flock, herd, swarm, press, pack;
cluster, bunch, knot, band, collection, circle, small group, assemblage
informal gaggle
collection, group, cluster, number, mass, selection, array;
jumble, confusion, muddle, heap, tangle, mess
1.1A number of people gathered together to speak about private or secret matters: she found her boyfriend in a huddle with one of the city’s notorious gossip columnists...
- With that, all the popular girls gathered in a huddle and started whispering together.
- Ayhia watched incredulously as the Hinsef gathered together in a huddle, apparently to discuss what to do with her, though she couldn't hear them so she couldn't be sure.
- A number of Dwarves were gathered together in a tight huddle, whispering furiously.
Synonyms
consultation, discussion, debate, talk, parley, meeting, conference
informal confab, powwow
rare confabulation
1.2A brief gathering of players during a game to receive instructions, especially in American Football: he controls the huddle and the team better than anybody else...
- That's when a team's quarterback calls two plays in the huddle and tells every player to ‘check with me’ before the snap to know which play to run.
- This inbounds play starts off the same way as the huddle, except your players face your inbounder this time, and they don't put their arms around each other.
- This year she was so relaxed she even cracked a joke in a huddle during an overtime game in the Bridgeport Regional final against Connecticut.
1.3 [mass noun] archaic Confusion; bustle: the service was performed with more harmony and less huddle than I have known it...
- A Sunday service which he had attended at the cathedral at that date had been performed ‘with more harmony and less huddle than I have known it in any church in England ’.
- The installation of a station stumbled over no less huddle than that of the nuclear waste rejection.
Origin
Late 16th century (in the sense 'conceal'): perhaps of Low German origin.
house from Old English:
The word house is related to Dutch huis and German Haus, and their ancient ancestor may have been a root meaning ‘to hide’ found also in huddle (late 16th century). The House of Commons was first called by that name in the early 17th century, quickly followed by the Houses of Parliament, and the House of Lords. The house music heard in clubs from 1986 onwards was probably named after the Warehouse, a club in Chicago where the music was first popular. See also hussy