hungry 
In the Central Riverina, which embraces the country 
lying to the north and south of thu Mnrruinuigee River, 
the wool presents what is called a /<;;<>; appear -f, 
being not only tender and short in staple, but containing 
in many instances a large quantity of earth, sand, and 
burr. U. S. Con*. Rep., No. Ixiv. (1886), p. 141. 
4. Marked by scarcity of food or a famished 
condition ; necessitating nourishment. 
Helden ful hungry hous and hadde much defaute. 
Pirn Plowman (C), x. 208. 
Whan it was in the sowre hunyry tyme there was es- 
tablissed or cryed grevos and unplitable co-empcion. 
Chaucer, Bocthius, i. prose 4. 
And stop and eat, for well you may 
Be in a hungry case. Cowper, John Gilpin. 
5. Not rich or fertile ; poor; barren. 
To the great day of retribution our Saviour refers us, 
for reaping the fruits we here sow in the most hungry 
and barren soil. Smalridge, Sermons'. 
The filth with which the peasant feeds 
His hungry acres. Cowper, Task, iv. 603. 
6f. Fit only to satisfy great hunger. 
They [shrimps] are made up in Packs and sent to all 
the chief Towns in the Country, especially to Mexico, 
where, tho' but a hungry sort of Food, they are mightily 
esteemed. Dampter, Voyages, II. ii. 128. 
7. Stingy; mean. [Prov. Eng.] Hungry evilt 
a ravenous appetite in horses. Bailey. Hungry fish, 
haddock caught on set-lines : so called in depreciation by 
the British beam-trawlers, who consider them inferior. 
./. W. Colling. Hungry lice. Same ta/undi. =Syn. 1 
and 3. Greedy, famishing, ravenous. 
hunit, huniet, Obsolete forms of honey. 
hunk 1 (hungk), n. [Not found in early records ; 
commonly assibilated, hunch, q. v. ; origin un- 
certain ; it has been regarded (1) as a nasalized 
form of dial. huck% for hook, or of "hack (LG. 
hukke, G. hucke, the bent back, G. hocker, a 
hunch on the back), represented by huckster and 
hug, and hunker*) q. v. ; or (2) as a var. of hump.] 
A large lump, piece, or slice ; a hunch. [Col- 
loq.] 
Here's a hunk of bread ; put it in your pocket, case you 
should need it ! W. Jf . Baker, New Timothy, p. 200. 
Any hungry man or woman may enter the hall and be 
served with a mug of water and a hunk of bread. 
Daily News (London^ Aug. 13, 1885. 
hunk 2 (hungk), n. [Of. Hunker? and hunks.'] A 
sluttish, indolent woman. Jamieson. [Local.] 
hunk 3 (hungk), n. [Also honk; adopted in New 
York from the early Dutch settlers, < D. honk, 
post, station, home (used esp. by boys at play 
for the goal or base), as in the phrases ik heb 
honk, I am on my post, zijn honk bewaaren, keep 
one's post, van honk loopen, quit one's post. Cf. 
Hunker 2 .'] In tag and other games, the goal ; 
home : as, to reach hunk; to be on hunk. [Lo- 
cal, New York.] 
hunk 3 (hungk), adv. or a. [Abbr. of on hunk: 
eeehunk3,n. Cf. hunky.] I . On hunk ; at the 
goal. [Local, New York.] 
Boys at play, when they have reached their "base," . . . 
call it being honk. Bartlett, Americanisms, p. 492. 
Hence, used adjectively 2. In good or satis- 
factory position or condition; all right: as, I'm 
all hunk. Also hunky. [Slang, U. S.] 
Mr. L had filled in and made this ground in the 
waters of the East River without authority ; and now he 
felt himself all hunk, and wanted to get this enormous 
sum out of the city. 
Quoted in New York Tribune, Dec. 30, 1868. 
hunker 1 (hung'ker), v. i. [Prob. a nasalized 
form of Icel. hokra, crouch, creep, Tiuka, sit on 
one's hams : a verb represented in E. by hug, 
orig. crouch, and huckster, etc. : see hug, huck- 
ster, huckle, etc.] To stoop with the body rest- 
ing upon the calves of the legs; squat. [Scotch.] 
Upo' the ground they hunkered down a' three 
An' to their crack they yoked fast an' free. 
Jioss, Helenore (1st ed.), p. 81. 
Hunker 2 (hung'ker), n. [Supposed to be < D. 
honk, post, station, home, and thus lit. one who 
sticks to his post or stays at home : see Itimk 3 . 
Cf. luniks.] In American politics, a conservative ; 
one who opposes innovation or change ; a fogy : 
first applied in the State of New York as a name 
to the conservative section of the Democratic 
party who opposed tho Barnburners or radical 
section, about 1845. Also used adjectively. 
Egypt, the hunker conservative of antiquitv. . is hid 
in the tomb it inhabited. 
W. Phillips, Speeches, etc., p. 268. 
hunkered (hung'ki-rd), , [< hunker* + -ed?.] 
Elbowed; crooked. [Prov. Eng.] 
hunkerism (hung'ker-izm), w. [< Hunker 2 + 
-ism.] Hostility to progress; conservatism. 
[U. S.] 
hunkers (hung'kerz), n. pi. [< hunker*, v.] The 
hams; the haunches. [Scotch.] 
I got a glisk o' him mysel', sittin' on his hunkers in a 
hag, as gray's a tombstane. K. L. Stevenson, Merry Men. 
2021 
hunk-o'-Dee (hnngk'o-de'), n. [Formerly In/nl 
over Dee; origin not clear. Cf. hunk'*.] A boys' 
game, similar to I-spy. Instead of saying, "I spy 
Brown," etc., the player says, "Hunk-o'-Dee Brown," etc. 
[Pennsylvania and western New Jersey and Delaware.) 
hunks (hungks), H. [Cf. equiv. huntiiel, a mi- 
ser, a mean old man; dial, hungry, stingy, very 
mean ; but a connection with hungry cannot be 
asserted. Ct.hunk*.] A covetous, sordid man ; 
a miser; a niggard. 
Well, Sir, and make a very pretty Shew in the World, let 
me tell you ; nay, a better than your close Hunts. 
Wycherley, Plain Dealer, v. 1. 
Irus has, ever since he came into this neighbourhood, 
given all the intimations he skilfully could of being a 
close hunks worth money. Steele, Spectator, No. 264. 
I quite enjoy the thought of appearing in the light of 
an old hunks who knows on which side his bread is but- 
tered. Macaulay, Life and Letters, I. 331. 
hunky (hung'ki), a. [< hunk* + -u*.] Same 
as hunks, 2. [Slang, U. S.] 
hunky-dory (hung'ki-do'ri), a. [Also hunki- 
dory; an elaborated form of hunky.] Same as 
hunky, hunk'*, 2. [Slang, U. S.] 
Hunnic (huu'ik), a. [< Hun* + -ic.] Of or 
pertaining to the Huns. 
But there was a Hunnic party amongst the Khazar 
chiefs. Encyc. Brit., XIV. 60. 
Hunnish (hun'ish), a. [< Hun* + -ish*.] Per- 
taining to or resembling the Huns; charac- 
teristic of the Huns. 
In person, Attila is described as having been of true 
Hunnish type, short, but strongly made, with a large head, 
flat, widespread nostrils, and small, glittering eyes. 
Encyc. Bnt., III. 62. 
hunt (hunt), v. [< ME. hunten, honten, hounten, 
< AS. huntiau, huut; a secondary verb (with- 
out representatives in the other Teut. lan- 
guages), from a primitive shown in Goth. //- 
hint/tan, seize, take captive, pp. fra-hunthans, 
as noun, a captive. To the same root are usu- 
ally referred hent*, seize, take, hind*, as pecu- 
liarly a beast of the chase, and hand, as that 
which takes or seizes things: see hent*, hind*, 
search for or follow after, as game. 
Thus y am huntid as an herte to a-bay. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 70. 
The lord he lov'd to hunt the buck, 
The tiger, and the boar. 
The Cruel Black (Child's Ballads, III. 370). 
He [Ferdinand] passed some time, in December, at a 
country-seat of the duki " 
hunted the stag. 
2. To search after ; pursue ; follow closely. 
And fers foghtande folke folowes theme aftyre, 
Hoantes and hewes downe the heythene tykes. 
Morte Arthure, MS. Lincoln, f. 97. (Halliwell.) 
Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him. 
Ps. cxl. 11. 
He therefore through close paths of wary hast 
Hunts his escape. J. Beaumont, Psyche, i. 236. 
3. To use, direct, or manage in the chase. 
He hunts a pack of dogs. Addison. 
When he [a dog] is to be hunted, with other dogs he re- 
quires to be made "steady behind "that is to say, he must 
be taught to "back" another dog as the latter stands. 
Dogs of Great Britain and America, p. 236. 
hunt 
The raising of the siege of Prague and Prince fharles 
and Marechal Maillebois playing at hunt the squirrel have 
disgusted me from inquiring about this war. 
//. Walpole, To Mann, Oct. 8, 1742. 
To hunt at forcet, to run the game down with dogs, in- 
stead of shooting it. 
The stag for goodly shape, and stateliness of head, 
Is fitt'st to hunt at force. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, xiii. 111. 
Rob. Had you good sport i' your chase to-day? 
John. O, prime I 
Mar. A lusty stag. 
Rob. \ntihuntedyvatforcef 
B. Joiuou, Sad Shepherd, i. 2. 
To hunt Changet, to take a fresh scent and follow another 
chase. Halliicell. 
John. And never hunted change I 
Rob. You had stanch hounds then? 
S. Joneon, Sad Shepherd, I. 2. 
TO hunt down, to bring to bay ; chase and capture or kill ; 
hence, to bear down by persecution or violence ; pursue 
to the bitter end. To hunt for hares with a tabort. 
See Aarel. To hunt from, to pursue and drive out or 
away. To hunt out or up, to seek ; search for ; find by 
search. 
I do hunt out a probability. Spenser. 
All living creatures either hunt out their aliment, pur- 
sue their prey, or seek then- pleasures. 
Bacon, Fable of Pan. 
The same impulse . . . compelled me to hunt up the 
outlying groups of the Tibeto-Burman family within the 
kingdom of China. R. N. Cust, Mod. Langs. E. Ind., p. 4. 
To hunt the clean shoe or boot, to follow the trail of a 
man whose shoes have not been prepared by the applica- 
tion of blood or aniseed so as to leave a strongly marked 
trail. Daily Neu-i (London), Oct. 10, 1888. 
You can begin scarcely too early to teach [bloodhound] 
pups to hunt the clean boot. The Century, XXVIII. 193. 
II. intrans. 1. To follow the chase; pursue 
game or other wild animals. 
And the cause whi he was cleped Dodynell was for euer 
was in the feeldes and forestes for to hunts at the herte 
and other deer and wylde swyn. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.X ii. 247. 
The princess comes to hunt here In the park. 
Shak., L.L.L., III. 1. 
2. To make a search or quest; seek: with for 
or after. 
xxii. 
ingly, though they be offered you. 
Sir T. More, To his Daughter, Utopia, Int., p. 
He after honour hunts, I after love. 
Shak.,T. G. of V.,i. 1. 
Many in this world ran after felicity like an absent man 
hunting for his hat, while all the time it is on his head or 
in his hand. Sydney Smith, in Lady Holland, iv. 
;e of Aiva, near Placentia, where he 3. In bell-ringing, to alter the place of a bell in 
Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 24. Hs set according to certain rules. When the place 
of the bell is changing from first to last, the process ia 
called hunting-up; when from last back to first, hunt- 
ing-down. To hunt counter, to hunt the wrong way; 
trace the scent backward ; retrace one's steps ; also, to 
take up a false trail. 
You mean to make a hoiden or a hare 
O' me, f hunt counter thus, and make these doubles. 
B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, ii. 0. 
When the hounds or beagles hunt it by the heel, we say 
they hunt counter. 
Gentleman's Recreations (8vo ed.), p. 18. 
lunt (hunt), w.l [<7<nt,t>. The AS. words for 
' hunting ' were, besides huntung, hunting, hunt- 
ath or huntoth, huntnatlt or huntnoth : see hunt- 
eth.] 1. The act of seeking for or chasing 
4. To pursue game or wild animals over ; spe- game or other wild animals for the purpose of 
cifically, to pursue foxes over: as, the district catching or killing them ; a pursuit ; a chase, 
was hunted by the foxhounds. 
When an opportunity occurred, he took to hunting the 
county. Trollope, Dr. Thorne, 1. 
"They hunt old trails," said Cyril, "very well." 
Tennyson, Princess, ii. 
Hunt the fox, a boys' game in which one of the players 
is given a startj and the others try to catch him before he 
can reach home again ; hare and hounds. 
I heard myself proclaim'd ; 
And, by the happy hollow of a tree, 
Escap'd the hunt. Shak., Lear, ii. 3. 
2. A pack of hounds engaged in the chase. 
Whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds, 
Replying shrilly to the well-tun'd horns, 
As if a double hunt were heard at once, 
Let us sit down and mark their yelping noise. 
Shak., Tit. And., ii 3. 
3. An association of huntsmen : as, the Cale- 
donian hunt. 
In former happy days he had always arranged the meets 
of the Barsetshire hunt. Trollope, Dr. Thorne, xxxix. 
4. The region of country hunted with hounds. 
5f. Game killed in the chase. 
Boys, we'll go dress our hunt. Shak. , Cymbeline, iii. 6. 
r~ V..HU, ui,u icwu v/i an, mcj ><u uuwii 10 nnni me a rn. j. jl i ' i_ > 
r. As every person may not he acquainted with this " J- ne act ol seeking or searching for some- 
:val pastime, it may be necessary to observe that the thing ; a search or inquisition. 
I had a pretty good hunt, finding nothing on his table 
but a small pocket Bible, about the size and shape of the 
thing I expected to find, but not the thing I expected to 
find. J. T. Trowbridge, Coupon Bonds, p. 316. 
Still hunt, a hunt conducted with unusual silence and cau- 
tion ; hence, in American politics, a canvass conducted in a 
quiet and secret manner. 
luntf (hunt), n.a [< ME. hunte, honte, < AS. 
hunta, a hunter, < huntian, hunt: see hunt, v. 
This noun has been supplanted by hunter, which 
is found first in ME. ; it survives in the surname 
And also when we play and hunt the fox, 
I outrun all the boys in the schoole. 
Quoted in Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 487. 
Hunt the hare. Same as hunt the fox. Strutt. Hunt 
the pig, a once popular sport in which a well greased pig 
was chased. The person who caught and held the pig by 
the tail received him as a prize. Hunt the slipper 
See the extract. 
Hot cockles succeeded next, questions and commands 
followed that, and last of all, they sat down to hunt the 
slipper. ' 
primevi 
companyin this play plant themselves in a ring'upon the 
ground, all except one, who stands in the middle, whose 
business it is to catch a shoe, which the company shove 
about under their hams from one to another, something 
like a weaver's shuttle. 
Hunt the squirrel. 
Goldsmith, Vicar, xi. 
See the extracts. 
Another and apparently older way of playing " hunt the 
squirrel" is a game in which the child touched follows hunt* Chunti n 2 
the toucher until he has caught him, pursuing him both - 
in and out of the ring, being obliged to enter and leave 
the circle at the same point as the latter. 
Newell, Games of American Children, No. 117. 
