crouching
crouch-ing
verb
The action of bending low with the body close to the ground.
"He was crouching behind the wall."
adjective
Being in a low, bent position, often to hide or prepare to move.
"A crouching figure appeared in the shadows."
Thesaurus
Synonyms: crouch, bow, stoop, bend, hunker down, scrunch up, scrunch, hunker, squat