Flinch
['flɪn(t)ʃ] or [flɪntʃ]
Definition
(verb.) draw back, as with fear or pain; 'she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf'.
Checker: Melva--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) 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.
(v. i.) To let the foot slip from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.
(n.) The act of flinching.
Typed by Claire
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. Shrink, withdraw, retreat, swerve, wince, draw back, hold back.
Checked by Dora
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Blench, swerve, wince, recoil
ANT:Dare, face, bear, meet, endure
Checker: Mara
Definition
v.i. to shrink back: to fail.—ns. Flinch′er; Flinch′ing the act of flinching or shrinking.—adv. Flinch′ingly.
Editor: Theresa
Examples
- They were trying to intimidate him--to make him flinch; each was urging the other on to some immediate act of personal violence. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- I shall not flinch, you may depend upon it, Mr. Lydgate, said Mr. Bulstrode. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I won't flinch. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- She was one of those people who can bear a great deal of pleasure, and she never flinched in her perseverance in the cause. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The dogs looked lazily up, flinched a little when the impatient feet of the sheep touched their raw backs--sighed, and lay peacefully down again. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- The entire garrison marched and counter-marched within the rampart, in full view--yet notwithstanding even this, we never flinched. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- I looked attentively to see if she flinched at the sudden mention of that name. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- There was no flinching about the girl. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Like a Red Indian undergoing torture, Gerald would experience the whole process of slow death without wincing or flinching. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- She walked to the window, flinching under his angry stare, looked out for a moment, and turned round quite coldly. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- That is the real truth, replied Crispin, without flinching. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
Typed by Benjamin