blench

¹ American  

[blench] / blɛntʃ /

verb (used without object)

1. to shrink; flinch; quail.

   an unsteady eye that blenched under another's gaze.

---

blench ² American  

[blench] / blɛntʃ /

verb (used with or without object)

1. to make or become pale or white; blanch.

---

blench ¹ British  

/ blɛntʃ /

verb

1. (intr) to shy away, as in fear; quail

---

blench ² British  

/ blɛntʃ /

verb

1. to make or become pale or white

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• blencher
  noun
• blenchingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of blench¹

before 1000; Middle English blenchen, Old English blencan; cognate with Old Norse blekkja, Middle High German blenken

Origin of blench²

First recorded in 1805–15; variant of blanch ¹

Example Sentences

Blench holding is by a nominal payment, as of a penny Scots, or a red rose, often only to be rendered upon demand.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 3 "Fenton, Edward" to "Finistere" by Various

Thou must do bravely, not with hand alone, But with thy heart, and if I ask aught new Blench not; it is to aid me thou art here.

From Specimens of Greek Tragedy — Aeschylus and Sophocles by Smith, Goldwin

Blench, blensh, v.i. to shrink or start back: to flinch.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various