The act of sitting or crouching on one's haunches; in architecture, the process of reinforcing an arch with haunching stones.
Present participle of 'haunch,' formed by adding '-ing.' The term has both everyday and technical architectural meanings.
The gerund 'haunching' shows how words slip between everyday use and technical jargon—'haunching' an arch is the same word root as how a dog haunches before jumping, showing how language works with our bodies.
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