quail
2[kweyl]
||
verb (used without object)
to lose heart or courage in difficulty or danger; shrink with fear.
Origin of quail
21400–50; late Middle English < Middle Dutch quelen, queilen
Synonyms for quail
Synonym study
See wince1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for quailing
blanch, faint, droop, flinch, tremble, wince, shudder, start, recoil, quake, shake, falter, blench, cringeExamples from the Web for quailing
Historical Examples of quailing
Lady Luce caught her by the shoulders and glared into her quailing eyes.
Nell, of Shorne MillsCharles Garvice
And instead of quailing, she looked at him with flashing eyes.
In Kings' BywaysStanley J. Weyman
The quailing Leaf tried to look as if he had lived nowhere at all.
Under the Greenwood TreeThomas Hardy
How would it not grieve him could he hear of them as now quailing before Hector?
The IliadHomer
Quailing inside his force shell, Scorio saw his men go, one by one.
EmpireClifford Donald Simak
quail
1noun plural quails or quail
Word Origin for quail
C14: from Old French quaille, from Medieval Latin quaccula, probably of imitative origin
quail
2verb
Word Origin for quail
C15: perhaps from Old French quailler, from Latin coāgulāre to curdle
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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quail
quail
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper