Flinch \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.
[1913 Webster]
A child, by a constant course of kindness, may be
accustomed to bear very rough usage without
flinching or complaining. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Croquet) To let the foot slip from a ball, when
attempting to give a tight croquet.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Flinch \Flinch\, n.
The act of flinching.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
flinch
n : a reflex response to sudden pain [syn: wince]
v : draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they
showed the slaughtering of the calf" [syn: squinch, funk,
cringe, shrink, wince, recoil, quail]
WordNet (r) 2.0
72 Moby Thesaurus words for "flinch":
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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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