Cower vs Flinch - What's the difference?
cower | flinch |
To crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear.
* Dryden
* Goldsmith
A reflexive jerking away.
To make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus.
* John Locke
To dodge (a question), to avoid an unpleasant task or duty
To let the foot slip from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.
As verbs the difference between cower and flinch
is that cower is {{cx|intransitive|lang=en}} To crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear while flinch is to make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus.As a noun flinch is
a reflexive jerking away.cower
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) kuren or from Scandinavian ((etyl) . Unrelated to coward, which is of Latin origin.Verb
(en verb)- He'd be useless in war. He'd just cower in his bunker until the enemy came in and shot him, or until the war was over.
- Our dame sits cowering o'er a kitchen fire.
- Like falcons, cowering on the nest.
See also
* coward * cowardiceEtymology 2
flinch
English
Noun
(es)- My eye doctor hates the flinch I have every time he tries to get near my eyes.
Verb
- A child, by a constant course of kindness, may be accustomed to bear very rough usage without flinching or complaining.