cower [ kou -er ] SHOW IPA
/ ˈkaʊ ər / PHONETIC RESPELLING
verb (used without object)
to crouch, as in fear or shame.
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Origin of cower 1250–1300; Middle English couren; cognate with Norwegian, Swedish kūra, Middle Low German kūren, German kauern
OTHER WORDS FROM cower cow·er·ing·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022
Words related to cower cringe ,
crouch ,
flinch ,
recoil ,
skulk ,
tremble ,
wince ,
blench ,
bootlick ,
fawn ,
grovel ,
kowtow ,
quail ,
shrink ,
sneak ,
toady ,
truckle ,
apple-polish ,
brown-nose ,
draw back
How to use cower in a sentence Members of Congress were now huddled with their staff, cower ing petrified behind furniture they had piled against their office doors.
In response, the US built rockets and American children learned to cower under their school desks in atomic bomb drills.
The scenes of congressional representatives cower ing on the House floor Wednesday are likely to revive calls for new domestic terrorism legislation.
Stewart cower ed in the kitchen area and called police to tell them Mouser was hurting her mother, she said, but Blake took the phone from her and told them that nothing was wrong.
Breitbart forced her to correct a small part of her story, but witch hunts like these will leave every victim cower ing.
Samwell Tarly starts the episode his same old pining, cower ing self.
The officers warned my cower ing Oma (grandma) what might await the cousin if she ever did return.
The man who appears resolute and forceful in public is, behind closed doors, cower ing in fear.
In the incident, 12-year-old Muhammad Al-Dura was reportedly shot and killed by Israeli forces while cower ing behind his father.
The heir apparent and his brothers were cower ing in fear, afraid to strike, yet hoping that others would strike for them.
Savage troopers urged their horses into the water and slashed cower ing women with their sabers.
They entered a house where an apparently sick man sat cower ing in a corner, wrapped in a blanket.
The inhabitants were cower ing upon the floor, playing with the children, or assisting one another to get rid of their vermin.
Cower ing amid some shrubs of dense foliage, he watched Malcolm dashing along the road to the Lahore Gate of the palace.
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British Dictionary definitions for cower
verb
(intr) to crouch or cringe, as in fear
Word Origin for cower C13: from Middle Low German kūren to lie in wait; related to Swedish kura to lie in wait, Danish kure to squat
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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