Meaning of FLINCH
| Pronunciation: | | flinch
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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- [n] a reflex response to sudden pain
- [v] draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf"
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| | Synonyms: | | cringe, funk, quail, recoil, shrink, squinch, wince, wince |
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| | See Also: | | jump, move, retract, shrink back, start, startle | |
| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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\Flinch\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Flinched}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Flinching}.] [Prob. fr. OE. flecchen to waver, give way, F.
fl['e]chir, fr. L. flectere to bend; but prob. influenced by
E. blench. Cf. {Flex}.]
1. To withdraw from any suffering or undertaking, from pain
or danger; to fail in doing or perserving; to show signs
of yielding or of suffering; to shrink; to wince; as, one
of the parties flinched from the combat.
A child, by a constant course of kindness, may be
accustomed to bear very rough usage without
flinching or complaining. --Locke.
2. (Croquet) To let the foot slip from a ball, when
attempting to give a tight croquet.
\Flinch\, n.
The act of flinching.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | avoid, avoidance, be startled, blanch, blench, blink, boggle, cower, cringe, demur, dodge, draw back, draw in, duck, elude, escape, eschew, evade, evasion, fade, fall back, fallback, falter, fight shy of, funk, hang back, hang off, have qualms, hesitate, hold off, jib, jump, jump a mile, make bones about, pause, pull back, pull in, pull out, pullback, pullout, quail, recede, recoil, reel back, retire, retract, retreat, scruple, sheer off, shrink, shrink back, shrink from, shun, shy, shy at, sidestep, sidestepping, squinch, start, start aside, start back, startle, stick at, stickle, strain, swerve, turn aside, waver, weasel, weasel out, wince, withdraw |
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