crouch
v.v. to lower your body toward the ground by bending your knees. You often do this to hide or to get closer to something.
v. to adopt a position where the knees are bent and the upper body is brought forward and down. Often implies an attempt to hide, protect oneself, or prepare for sudden movement.
The cat will crouch low before it jumps.
The photographer had to crouch behind a bush to get a clear shot of the deer without scaring it away.
During the drill, the students were instructed to crouch beneath their desks and cover their heads until the alarm stopped ringing.
From Middle English crouchen (“to bend, crouch”), variant of croken (“to bend, crook”), from crok (“crook, hook”), from Old Norse krókr (“hook”), from Proto-Germanic krōkaz (“hook”), from Proto-Indo-European gerg- (“wicker, bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, wind, weave”). Compare Middle Dutch krōken (“to crook, curl”). More at crook.
From Middle English crouche, cruche, from Old English crūċ (“cross”). Compare Old Saxon krūci (“cross”), Old High German krūzi (“cross”). Doublet of cross and crux.
The verb is intransitive and does not take a direct object.