crouch

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To stoop, especially with the knees bent: crouched over the grate, searching for his keys.
2. v. To press the entire body close to the ground with the limbs bent: a cat crouching near its prey.
3. v. To bend servilely or timidly; cringe.
4. v. To bend (the head or knee, for example) low, as in fear or humility.
5. n. The act or posture of bending low or crouching.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To bend; stoop low; lie or stoop close to the ground, as an animal in preparing to spring or from fear: as, a dog crouches to his master, a lion crouches in the thicket.
2. To bow or stoop servilely; make slavish obeisance; fawn; cringe.
3. To bend or cause to bend low, as if for concealment, or in fear or abasement.
4. n. A cross; a crucifix; the sign of the cross; the cross on a coin, or the coin itself. See cross, n.
5. To sign with the cross; bless.

Wiktionary

1. n. obsolete A cross.
2. v. obsolete To sign with the cross; bless.
3. v. intransitive To bend down; to stoop low; to lie close to the ground with legs bent, as an animal when waiting for prey, or in fear.
4. v. intransitive To bend servilely; to stoop meanly; to fawn; to cringe.
5. v. intransitive To bend, or cause to bend, as in humility or fear.
6. n. A bent or stooped position.
7. n. A button (of a joypad, joystick or similar device) whose only or main current function is that when it is pressed causes a video game character to crouch.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To bend down; to stoop low; to lie close to the ground with the logs bent, as an animal when waiting for prey, or in fear.
2. v. To bend servilely; to stoop meanly; to fawn; to cringe.
3. v. obsolete To sign with the cross; to bless.
4. v. To bend, or cause to bend, as in humility or fear.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the act of bending low with the limbs close to the body
2. v. sit on one's heels
3. v. bend one's back forward from the waist on down