Adjacent Words

Flinch definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FLINCH, v.i. [I have not found this word in any other language; but the sense of it occurs in blench, and not improbably it is from the same root, with a different prefix.]
1. To shrink; to withdraw from any suffering or undertaking, from pain or danger; to fail of proceeding, or of performing any thing. Never flinch from duty. 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.
2. To fail.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a reflex response to sudden pain [syn: wince, flinch] v
1: draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf" [syn: flinch, squinch, funk, cringe, shrink, wince, recoil, quail]

Merriam Webster's

intransitive verb Etymology: Middle French flenchir to bend, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle High German lenken to bend, Old High German hlanca flank — more at lank Date: 1578 to withdraw or shrink from or as if from pain ; wince; also to tense the muscles involuntarily in anticipation of discomfort Synonyms: see recoil • flinch noun • flincher noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v. & n. --v.intr. 1 draw back in pain or expectation of a blow etc.; wince. 2 (often foll. by from) give way; shrink, turn aside (flinched from his duty). --n. an act or instance of flinching. Derivatives: flincher n. flinchingly adv. Etymology: OF flenchir, flainchir f. WG 2. flinders n.pl. fragments; splinters. Etymology: ME, prob. f. Scand.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flinch Flinch, n. The act of flinching.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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. 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(flinches, flinching, flinched) 1. If you flinch, you make a small sudden movement, especially when something surprises you or hurts you. Murat had looked into the eyes of the firing squad without flinching... The sharp surface of the rock caught at her skin, making her flinch. VERB: usu neg, V, V 2. If you flinch from something unpleasant, you are unwilling to do it or think about it, or you avoid doing it. The world community should not flinch in the face of this challenge... He has never flinched from harsh financial decisions. VERB: V, V from n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Shrink, withdraw, retreat, swerve, wince, draw back, hold back.

Moby Thesaurus

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