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Cringe vs Syringe - What's the difference?

cringe | syringe |

As nouns the difference between cringe and syringe

is that cringe is a posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling while syringe is a device used for injecting or drawing fluids through a membrane.

As verbs the difference between cringe and syringe

is that cringe is to bow or crouch in servility while syringe is to clean or inject fluid by means of a syringe.

cringe

English

Alternative forms

* (dialectal)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling.
  • He glanced with a cringe at the mess on his desk.
  • (dialect) A crick.
  • Verb

  • (dated) To bow or crouch in servility.
  • * Milton
  • Sly hypocrite, who more than thou / Once fawned and cringed , and servilely adored / Heaven's awful monarch?
  • * 1903 , ,
  • He heard the hateful clank of their chains; he felt them cringe and grovel, and there rose within him a protest and a prophecy.
  • * 1904 , ,
  • Leclere was bent on the coming of the day when Batard should wilt in spirit and cringe and whimper at his feet.
  • To shrink, tense or recoil, as in fear, disgust or embarrassment.
  • He cringed as the bird collided with the window.
  • * Bunyan
  • When they were come up to the place where the lions were, the boys that went before were glad to cringe behind, for they were afraid of the lions.
  • * 1917 , ,
  • But he made no whimper. Nor did he wince or cringe to the blows. He bored straight in, striving, without avoiding a blow, to beat and meet the blow with his teeth.
  • (obsolete) To contract; to draw together; to cause to shrink or wrinkle; to distort.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Till like a boy you see him cringe his face, / And whine aloud for mercy.

    Derived terms

    * cringeworthy

    See also

    * crouch * wince

    Anagrams

    *

    syringe

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A device used for injecting or drawing fluids through a membrane.
  • A device consisting of a hypodermic needle, a chamber for containing liquids, and a piston for applying pressure (to inject) or reducing pressure (to draw); a hypodermic syringe.
  • Usage notes

    * Syringe mostly refers specifically to medical devices for injecting drugs into a human body or drawing blood from one (or other human fluids), but the broader definition sees occasional use, particularly in specialized fields.

    See also

    * inject * intravenous * needle * shoot up

    Verb

    (syring)
  • To clean or inject fluid by means of a syringe.
  • Have your ears syringed , they're so dirty!