Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
verb (used without object)
- to shrink; flinch; quail: an unsteady eye that blenched under another’s gaze.
verb (used with or without object)
- to make or become pale or white; blanch.
verb
- (intr) to shy away, as in fear; quail
verb
- to make or become pale or white
Old English blencan “deceive, cheat,” from Proto-Germanic *blenk- “to shine, dazzle, blind,” from PIE root *bhel- (1) “to shine, flash, burn” (see bleach (v.)). Sense of “move suddenly, wince, dodge” is from c.1300. Related: Blenched; blenching.