Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Flinch

Flinch

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Flinched
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Flinching
.]
[Prob. fr. OE.
flecchen
to waver, give way, F.
fléchir
, fr. L.
flectere
to bend; but prob. influenced by E.
blench
. Cf.
Flex
.]
1.
To withdraw from any suffering or undertaking, from pain or danger; to fail in doing or perserving; to show signs of yielding or of suffering; to shrink; to wince;
as, one of the parties
flinched
from the combat
.
A child, by a constant course of kindness, may be accustomed to bear very rough usage without
flinching
or complaining.
Locke.
2.
(Croquet)
To let the foot slip from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.

Flinch

,
Noun.
The act of flinching.

Webster 1828 Edition


Flinch

FLINCH

,
Verb.
I.
[I have not found this word in any other language; but the sense of it occurs in blench, and not improbably it is from the same root, with a different prefix.]
1.
To shrink; to withdraw from any suffering or undertaking, from pain or danger; to fail of proceeding, or of performing any thing. Never flinch from duty. One of the parties flinched from the combat.
A child, by a constant course of kindness, may be accustomed to bear very rough usage without flinching or complaining.
2.
To fail.

Definition 2024


flinch

flinch

English

Noun

flinch (plural flinches)

  1. A reflexive jerking away.
    My eye doctor hates the flinch I have every time he tries to get near my eyes.

Translations

Verb

flinch (third-person singular simple present flinches, present participle flinching, simple past and past participle flinched)

  1. To make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus.
    • John Locke
      A child, by a constant course of kindness, may be accustomed to bear very rough usage without flinching or complaining.
  2. To dodge (a question), to avoid an unpleasant task or duty
  3. (games) (of the croquet game) To let the foot slip from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.

Translations

References

  1. flinch in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913