From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhaunchhaunch /hɔːntʃ $ hɒːntʃ/ noun [countable] 1 → haunches2 HBADFone of the back legs of a four-legged animal, especially when it is used as meat
Examples from the Corpus
haunch• Sure enough, she was still there, sitting on her haunches eyeing me thoughtfully.• Sinnett rose on his haunches and craned his neck from the other side.• Finally he broke away and went and squatted on his haunches by the stream.• Tuthanach slingshot whizzed and whirred, and two of the horsemen fell back over the mounts' haunches.• Its front paws were folded back beneath its body and its back paws disappeared beneath its round rear haunches.• To talk, they often got down on their haunches and hunkered.• They have the charming habit of sitting up on their haunches and basking in the early morning sun.Origin haunch (1100-1200) French hanche