DCHP-1 Online
bunch ((n.)) † 
1 n. Obs. the spinous process on the vertebrae in the hump above the shoulders of a buffalo, much prized as a delicacy.
See also: boss
- 1819 (1922) On his [buffalo's] back is a bunch or escressence, commencing a little forward of his haunches, the highest part of which is over his shoulders, and which terminates at the neck.
- 1840 . . . meeting with a herd of buffaloes in the meadows, I killed a fat one, and took from it the fillets, the bunch and the tongue.
2 n. a grove of trees.
See also: bluff (def. 3a)
- 1872 A grove, or as they would call it, a "bunch" of pine or spruce, catches the eye sooner than the signs left by a wild animal.
- 1910 The spruce grows in "bunches" or "stands" along the rivers. . . .
3 n. a herd of horses or, sometimes, cattle.
- 1903 (1913) Guess I'm reckoned kind of handy 'round a bunch of steers.
- 1910 Bunches of horses and herds of cattle [were] widely scattered over the endless grassy plains. . . .
- 1962 Picking a scrubby horse out of the bunch . . . he led him into the infested territory and shot him.
- 1819 (1922) On his [buffalo's] back is a bunch or escressence, commencing a little forward of his haunches, the highest part of which is over his shoulders, and which terminates at the neck.