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huddle definition

hud·dle (hud'l)

intransitive verb huddled -·dled, huddling -·dling

  1. to crowd, push, or nestle close together, as cows do in a storm
  2. to draw the limbs close to the body, as from cold to huddle under a blanket
  3. Informal to hold a private, informal conference
  4. Football to gather in a huddle

Etymology: orig. (16th c.), to put out of sight < ? or akin to ME hudel, var. of hidel, a hiding place < OE hydel < hydan, hide

transitive verb

  1. to crowd close together
  2. to hunch or draw (oneself) up
  3. to do, put, or make hastily and carelessly
  4. to push or thrust in a hurried or disordered manner

noun

  1. a confused crowd or heap of persons or things
  2. confusion; muddle; jumble
  3. Informal a private, informal conference
  4. Football a grouping of a team behind the line of scrimmage to receive signals before a play

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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