WordWeb Online

1. Sit on one's heels
   "The children hunkered down to protect themselves from the sandstorm";
   - squat, crouch, scrunch, scrunch up, hunker
    
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"

Derived forms: hunkering down, hunkers down, hunkered down

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