haun

n. [ F. hanche, of German origin; cf. OD. hancke, hencke, and also OHG. ancha; prob. not akin to E. ankle. ] 1. The hip; the projecting region of the lateral parts of the pelvis and the hip joint; the hind part. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of meats: The leg and loin taken together; as, a haunch of venison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Haunch bone. See Innominate bone, under Innominate. --
Haunches of an arch (Arch.), the parts on each side of the crown of an arch. (See Crown, n., 11.) Each haunch may be considered as from one half to two thirds of the half arch. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having haunches. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Haunted; p. pr. & vb. n. Haunting. ] [ F. hanter; of uncertain origin, perh. from an assumed LL. ambitare to go about, fr. L. ambire (see Ambition); or cf. Icel. heimta to demand, regain, akin to heim home (see Home). √36. ] 1. To frequent; to resort to frequently; to visit pertinaciously or intrusively; to intrude upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

You wrong me, sir, thus still to haunt my house. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those cares that haunt the court and town. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To inhabit or frequent as a specter; to visit as a ghost or apparition; -- said of spirits or ghosts, especially of dead people; as, the murdered man haunts the house where he died. [ 1913 Webster ]

Foul spirits haunt my resting place. Fairfax. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To practice; to devote one's self to. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

That other merchandise that men haunt with fraud . . . is cursed. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Leave honest pleasure, and haunt no good pastime. Ascham. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To accustom; to habituate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Haunt thyself to pity. Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To persist in staying or visiting. [ 1913 Webster ]

I've charged thee not to haunt about my doors. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A place to which one frequently resorts; as, drinking saloons are the haunts of tipplers; a den is the haunt of wild beasts. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In Old English the place occupied by any one as a dwelling or in his business was called a haunt. [ 1913 Webster ]

Often used figuratively. [ 1913 Webster ] The household nook,
The haunt of all affections pure. Keble. [ 1913 Webster ] The feeble soul, a haunt of fears. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The habit of resorting to a place. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The haunt you have got about the courts. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Practice; skill. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Of clothmaking she hadde such an haunt. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost. [ 1913 Webster ]

All houses wherein men have lived and died
Are haunted houses. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]