hunch

Related to hunch: playing a hunch

a hunch

A strong intuitive feeling about someone or something. I can't explain it, I just have a hunch that Maggie's pregnant. Mom keeps saying that she has a hunch about our trip. She really seems to think something bad is going to happen to us.
See also: hunch

have a hunch (about someone or something)

To have a strong intuitive feeling about someone or something. I can't explain it, I just have a hunch that Maggie's pregnant. Mom keeps saying that she has a hunch about our trip. She really seems to think something bad is going to happen to us.
See also: have, hunch, someone

have a hunch that is the case

To have a strong intuitive feeling that something is true. A noun or pronoun, especially "that," can be used between "that" and "is." A: "I'm still really annoyed with you though." B: "Yeah, you were being so quiet, I had a hunch that was the case." A: "Do you think Robert is involved?" B: "Yes, I have a hunch that that is the case."
See also: case, have, hunch, that

hunch (one's)/the shoulders up

To raise and scrunch the shoulders up by the ears. Would you stop hunching your shoulders up like that? Try to relax!
See also: hunch, shoulder, up

hunch over

1. To lean forward and round the spine rather than standing erect. A: "Would you stop hunching over like that?" B: "Ugh, but my back hurts, Mom."
2. To lean over something while rounding one's spine, as opposed to sitting or standing with an erect back. I know, my posture is terrible after years of hunching over a computer keyboard.
3. To cause someone or something to bend, slouch, or stoop forward. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "hunch" and "over." Having to carry those heavy bags of coal for so many years has hunched the poor man over really badly. I had to hunch the mannequin over to make it fit in the display.
See also: hunch, over

hunch up

1. To raise and scrunch the shoulders up by the ears. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "hunch" and "up." Would you stop hunching up your shoulders like that? Try to relax!
2. To bring the limbs in close to the body; to curl up. I pulled the blanket over me and hunched up to try to keep warm.
See also: hunch, up

hunch up (one's)/the shoulders

To raise and scrunch the shoulders up by the ears. Would you stop hunching up your shoulders like that? Try to relax!
See also: hunch, shoulder, up

on a hunch

With or based on a strong intuition (about something), rather than absolute knowledge. I opened the cabinet underneath the sink on a hunch that we'd find the keys there. On a hunch, I'd say that the president is likely to veto the bill.
See also: hunch, on

play (one's) hunch

To make a decision based on one's instinct, intuition, or an educated guess. The detective played his hunch and went to investigate the warehouse by the docks. Sure enough, that's where he found the stolen goods. There's no penalty for guessing, so if you're not positive which answer is correct, just play your hunch and don't second-guess yourself too much.
See also: hunch, play

play a hunch

To make a decision based on instinct, intuition, or an educated guess. The detective played a hunch and went to investigate the warehouse by the docks. Sure enough, that's where he found the stolen goods. There's no penalty for guessing, so if you're not positive which answer is correct, just play a hunch and don't second-guess yourself too much.
See also: hunch, play
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

have a hunch (that something is the case)

 and have a hunch about something
to have an idea about what did, will, or should happen; to have a feeling that something will or should happen. I had a hunch that you would be here when I arrived. I have a hunch about the way things will happen.
See also: have, hunch

hunch over

[for someone] to bend over. The wounded man hunched over and staggered to the window. He was hunched over with pain.
See also: hunch, over

hunch something up

to raise up or lift up some body part, usually the shoulders. He hunched his shoulders up in his effort to get warm. He hunched up his shoulders to keep warm.
See also: hunch, up

hunch up

to squeeze or pull the parts of one's body together. He hunched up in a corner to keep warm. Why is that child hunched up in the corner?
See also: hunch, up
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

play a (or your) hunch

make an instinctive choice.
See also: hunch, play
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • a hunch
  • have a hunch
  • have a hunch (about someone or something)
  • slouch behind
  • slouch behind (someone or something)
  • on a hunch
  • I just have this feeling
  • stoop labor
  • stoop over
  • have a hunch that is the case
References in periodicals archive
What was manual, anecdotal, and editorial became automated, scalable, and much better--using not hunches, but citation data.
The tyranny of hunches: using analytics to give your firm a strategic advantage
"People who are hunched project a cringing message and do not get listened to as well as those who stand up straight.
Avoiding the 'iHunch'
Thomas cautions that it isn't sufficient to simply stretch for 10 minutes every few days if you are continually holding yourself with your head forward and your shoulders hunched.
Good posture can help you avoid dowager's hump
The aim is to inspire students to pursue STEM careers, says Florence Gold, a HUNCH project manager.
Students create astronaut gear in NASA program
Hunch's patented prediction technology uses signals from around the Web to map members, based on their individual tastes, with their predicted affinity for products, services, other people and websites, offering recommended topics for them.
Recommendation technology company Hunch acquired by eBay
except when the carriers ignore their formulas and play hunches.
Do crediting systems perform the same?
He played only hunches, and by midnight, he'd won $96,000.
3 days in Vegas: cousin Phil gambled on a big win, but Sin City taught him a different lesson about playing hunches--and going for broke
If you can't decide which camera, computer or television to buy, Hunch will probably be able to give you a good, um, hunch.
On the web
CALL it intuition or luck, but either way, goalkeeper Danny Coyne admits his FA Cup save at Chesterfield last Saturday was down to a hunch.
Football: 'Hunch' was just spot-on; ROVER FLOW Doncaster v Tranmere
HOW many times have we heard people say "I had a feeling that something was not quite right." Or "I had a hunch that the question was going to be asked".
WALES: saturday THOUGHT
To watch Spacek whisper her lines, hunch over, and clumsily heave a bowling ball is to crawl inside yourself with mortification.
Gray Matters
He details why he considers string theory not to really be a theory, but simply a hunch that has been perpetuated by leaders in the physics community who refuse to acknowledge its failure.
Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law
The authors seem to struggle to locate the reason for the popularity of the idea of "marks." My hunch is that because Calvinists added a mark (discipline) to two of Luther's most popular constituents of the church (proclamation of the word and administration of the sacraments) they were important in the development of the idea of marks.
Christian Assembly: Marks of the Church in a Pluralistic Age
How many times has an experienced adjuster had a hunch about a case that eventually proved to be valid?
Identifying fraud using data analytics