The area encompassing the upper thigh, hip and buttocks on one side of a human, primate, or quadruped animal, especially one that is able to sit on its hindquarters
If you get down on your haunches, you lower yourself towards the ground so that your legs are bent under you and you are balancing on your feet. Edgar squatted on his haunches
a beam or column deepening, usually deepest at the support and vanishing at or toward the center The curve of the lower flange or surface may be circular, elliptic, parabolic, straight, or stepped
The deepened portion of a column or rafter designed to accommodate the higher bending moments at such points (Usually occurs at the connection of column and rafter)