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1. Sit on one's heels
   "The children hunkered down to protect themselves from the sandstorm";
   - squat, hunker, scrooch [US, informal]
    
2. Take shelter
   "During the sandstorm, they hunkered down in a small hut"
    
3. Hold stubbornly to a position
   "The wife hunkered down and the husband's resistance began to break down"
    
4. Get to work and focus on a task
   - knuckle down, buckle down

Derived forms: hunkered down, hunkering down, hunkers down

Type of: crouch, crouch down, hide, hide out, hold firm, scooch, sit, sit down, stand fast, stand firm, stand pat

Encyclopedia: Hunker down