Library / English Dictionary

HUDDLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(informal) a quick private conference

Synonyms:

huddle; powwow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("huddle" is a kind of...):

conference; group discussion (a discussion among participants who have an agreed (serious) topic)

Meronyms (members of "huddle"):

huddler (a member of a huddle)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A disorganized and densely packed crowd

Example:

a huddle of frightened women

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("huddle" is a kind of...):

crowd (a large number of things or people considered together)

Meronyms (members of "huddle"):

huddler (a member of a huddle)

Derivation:

huddle (crowd or draw together)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Crowd or draw together

Example:

let's huddle together--it's cold!

Synonyms:

huddle; huddle together

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "huddle" is one way to...):

clump; cluster; constellate; flock (come together as in a cluster or flock)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The crowds huddle in the streets

Derivation:

huddle (a disorganized and densely packed crowd)

huddler (a member of a huddle)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Crouch or curl up

Example:

They huddled outside in the rain

Synonyms:

cower; huddle

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "huddle" is one way to...):

bend; bow; crouch; stoop (bend one's back forward from the waist on down)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

huddler (a person who crouches)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It was this one side of life which first presented itself to me, and so, as a boy, I used to picture the City as a gigantic stable with a huge huddle of coaches, which were for ever streaming off down the country roads.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The hall, when they entered it, was brightly lighted up; the fire was built high; and about the hearth the whole of the servants, men and women, stood huddled together like a flock of sheep.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Grizzled old sailors were among the people, shaking their heads, as they looked from water to sky, and muttering to one another; ship-owners, excited and uneasy; children, huddling together, and peering into older faces; even stout mariners, disturbed and anxious, levelling their glasses at the sea from behind places of shelter, as if they were surveying an enemy.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Though a stranger in the house he finally isolated himself in the midst of the company, huddling into a capacious Morris chair and reading steadily from a thin volume he had drawn from his pocket.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I was making my way through this at a point which was just out of sight of my companions, when, under one of the trees, I noticed something red huddled among the bushes.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The door opened, and the five men, standing huddled together just inside, pushed one of their number forward.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Three dead men lay huddled together in front of them: while a fourth, with the blood squirting from a severed vessel, lay back with updrawn knees, breathing in wheezy gasps.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He glanced casually at the huddling dogs.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The door was open; inside, huddled together upon a chair, Hunter was sunk in a state of absolute stupor, the favourite’s stall was empty, and there were no signs of his trainer.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his breast, like one who is utterly crushed.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)