flinch

[flinch]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flinch ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to draw back or shrink, as from what is dangerous, difficult, or unpleasant.

to shrink under pain; wince.

Croquet. to let the foot slip from the ball in the act of croqueting.

verb (used with object)

to draw back or withdraw from.

noun

an act of flinching.

Origin of flinch

First recorded in 1555–65; perhaps nasalized variant of dial. flitch to flit, shift one's position

Related formsflinch·er, nounflinch·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms for flinch

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flinch ON THESAURUS.COM

1. recoil, withdraw, blench.

flinch

[flinch]

verb (used with object)

flense.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for flinch

blanch, balk, cower, blink, recoil, cringe, swerve, crouch, escape, avoid, retire, recede, evade, elude, start, eschew, blench, withdraw, duck, shun

Examples from the Web for flinch

Contemporary Examples of flinch

Kenyatta made a Bush-like vow to continue the war on Al-Shabab, saying, “We will not flinch.”
Al-Shabab’s Anti-Christian Slaughter
Margot Kiser
December 3, 2014
We pressed here and watched it kick and then we pressed there and watched it flinch.
Mosul's Civilization and Its Discontents
Michael Carson
June 14, 2014
But even his biggest defenders will flinch at the assaults, sexual or not, that Joe has to endure in Nymphomaniac.
Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Raw Performance in ‘Nymphomaniac’ Is Not About the Sex
Jimmy So
March 21, 2014
Many young men will risk death rather than be seen by their peers to flinch from a fight.
The Truth About Women in Combat
David Frum
March 1, 2013
The familiar tone of wary bewilderment made me flinch a little.
Former Cop Edward Conlon on What He Learned About Profiling
Edward Conlon
April 7, 2012

Historical Examples of flinch

His duty lay very plain before him, and he would not flinch.
Southern Lights and Shadows
Various
Not this time would I flinch from what consequences might follow.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
The perfume of violet scent was almost unbearable, but he did not flinch.
The Avenger
E. Phillips Oppenheim
Yet she did not flinch, nor did a single symptom of panic or fear cross her face.
Louisiana Lou
William West Winter
But nothing daunts us, or makes us flinch from our fell purpose.
Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2)
William Delisle Hay

British Dictionary definitions for flinch

flinch

verb (intr)

to draw back suddenly, as from pain, shock, etc; wincehe flinched as the cold water struck him

(often foll by from) to avoid contact (with); shy awayhe never flinched from his duty

noun

the act or an instance of drawing back

a card game in which players build sequences

Derived Formsflincher, nounflinchingly, adverb

Word Origin for flinch

C16: from Old French flenchir; related to Middle High German lenken to bend, direct

flinch

verb

a variant of flense

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for flinch

1570s, from obsolete flecche "to bend, flinch," probably from Old French flenchir "to bend," probably from Frankish *hlankjan or some other Germanic source (cf. Middle High German linken, German lenken "to bend, turn, lead"), from PIE root *kleng- "to bend, turn" (see link (n.)). Related: Flinched; flinching. As a noun, from 1817.