cower
- to crouch, as in fear or shame.
Origin of cower
Synonyms for cower
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for cowered
skulk, crouch, cringe, flinch, recoil, wince, tremble, fawn, kowtow, sneak, grovel, honey, blench, bootlick, toady, quail, shrink, truckle, apple-polishExamples from the Web for cowered
Contemporary Examples of cowered
For over an hour a gun battle raged between them and my guards as I cowered inside my car, not knowing if I would live or die.
Historical Examples of cowered
If ever one cowered visibly in this world, Hamish Channing did then.
The ChanningsMrs. Henry Wood
Jonas shrunk from looking at him, and cowered down into the chair by which he had held.
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
Sim cowered in a corner of the box, with his lank fingers in his long hair.
The Shadow of a CrimeHall Caine
He glared at Nat Burns, who cowered silent and miserable in his corner.
The Harbor of DoubtFrank Williams
She turned on him, silent, a moment: he cowered and evaded her eyes.
cower
- (intr) to crouch or cringe, as in fear
Word Origin for cower
Word Origin and History for cowered
cower
c.1300, probably from Middle Low German *kuren "lie in wait" (Modern German kauern), or similar Scandinavian words meaning "to squat" and "to doze" (e.g. Old Norse kura, Danish, Norwegian kure, Swedish kura). Thus unrelated to coward. Related: Cowered; cowering.