Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
verb (used without object)
- to draw back or shrink, as from what is dangerous, difficult, or unpleasant.
- to shrink under pain; wince.
- Croquet. to let the foot slip from the ball in the act of croqueting.
verb (used with object)
- to draw back or withdraw from.
noun
- an act of flinching.
verb (used with object)
verb (intr)
- to draw back suddenly, as from pain, shock, etc; wincehe flinched as the cold water struck him
- (often foll by from) to avoid contact (with); shy awayhe never flinched from his duty
noun
- the act or an instance of drawing back
- a card game in which players build sequences
verb
- a variant of flense
1570s, from obsolete flecche “to bend, flinch,” probably from Old French flenchir “to bend,” probably from Frankish *hlankjan or some other Germanic source (cf. Middle High German linken, German lenken “to bend, turn, lead”), from PIE root *kleng- “to bend, turn” (see link (n.)). Related: Flinched; flinching. As a noun, from 1817.