squinch
n 1: a small arch built across the interior angle of two walls
(usually to support a spire)
v 1: crouch down
2: 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]
3: cross one's eyes as if in strabismus; "The children squinted
so as to scare each other" [syn: squint, squinch]
squinch I. verbEtymology: probably blend of squint and pinchDate: 1835 transitive verb1. to screw up (the eyes or face) ;squint2.a. to make more compact b. to cause to crouch down or
draw together
intransitive verb1.flinch2. to crouch
down or draw together 3.squintII. nounEtymology: alteration of earlier scunch
back part of the side of an opening Date: circa 1840
a support (as an arch, lintel, or corbeling) carried across the corner of
a room under a superimposed mass
squinch n. a straight or arched structure across an interior angle of a square tower to carry a superstructure, e.g. a dome. Etymology: var. of obs. scunch, abbr. of SCUNCHEON
squinch
n. a straight or arched structure across an interior angle of a square tower to
carry a superstructure, e.g. a dome. [var. of obs. scunch, abbr. of SCUNCHEON]
Squinch \Squinch\, n. [Corrupted fr. sconce.] (Arch.)
A small arch thrown across the corner of a square room to
support a superimposed mass, as where an octagonal spire or
drum rests upon a square tower; -- called also sconce, and
sconcheon.
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