hanch
/hænt͡ʃ/
hanch is the alternative form of hance.
hanch is the obsolete form of haunch.
Meaning of hance
Noun
hance (plural hances)
- A curve or arc, especially in architecture or in the design of a ship.
- He wears a minimal white cotton brief, and is pleased by the hance of its pouch, a catenary dip as he faces the mirror, the profile navicular and ostent.1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!
- The arc of smaller radius at the springing of an elliptical or many-centred arch.
Meaning of haunch
Noun
haunch (plural haunches)
- The area encompassing the upper thigh, hip and buttocks on one side of a human, primate, or quadruped animal, especially one that can sit on its hindquarters.
- But I had no time to pursue these reflections; for the gray horse came to the door, and made me a sign to follow him into the third room where I saw a very comely mare, together with a colt and foal, sitting on their haunches upon mats of straw, not unartfully made, and perfectly neat and clean.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms)
- The loin and leg of a quadruped, especially when used as food.
- Now these are the Laws of the Jungle, and many and mighty are they; / But the head and the hoof of the Law and the haunch and the hump is—Obey!1895 November, Rudyard Kipling, “The Law of the Jungle”, in The Second Jungle Book, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 25
- A squat vertical support structure.
- A jerked underhand throw.
Verb
hanch (third-person singular simple present hanches, present participle hanching, simple past and past participle hanched)
- To snap at something with the jaws.
Forms of hanch
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | hanches |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | hanches |
| present participle | hanching |
| past participle | hanched |
| past | hanched |
Questions about hanch
- What does hanch mean?
- Hanch means to snap at something with the jaws.
- What is hanch the alternative form of?
- Hanch is the alternative form of hance.
- What part of speech is hanch?
- Hanch is a verb.
- How do you pronounce hanch?
- Hanch is pronounced /hænt͡ʃ/.
- What is the past tense of hanch?
- The past tense of hanch is hanched.
Words near hanch in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hanch (page history and authors); hance (page history and authors); haunch (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hanch.wav.
Cite this entry: “hanch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hanch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.