blench

1
[ blench ]
See synonyms for blench on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object)
  1. to shrink; flinch; quail: an unsteady eye that blenched under another's gaze.

Origin of blench

1
before 1000; Middle English blenchen, Old English blencan; cognate with Old Norse blekkja, Middle High German blenken

Other words from blench

  • blencher, noun
  • blench·ing·ly, adverb

Other definitions for blench (2 of 2)

blench2
[ blench ]

verb (used with or without object)
  1. to make or become pale or white; blanch.

Origin of blench

2
First recorded in 1805–15; variant of blanch1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use blench in a sentence

  • Cornelia blenched, for no reason that she could think of; she could not gasp out the "Yes" that she tried to utter.

    The Coast of Bohemia | William Dean Howells
  • Ah, those old, drystone walls dividing the fields—pale and granite-blenched!

    Sea and Sardinia | D. H. Lawrence
  • A sudden quiver shot over Lenoir's face at this order, and his cheek blenched under the tan; but he neither spoke nor resisted.

    In the Days of My Youth | Amelia Ann Blandford Edwards
  • All the country side, all the little Maryland villages and farmhouses blenched beneath that sound.

    The Long Roll | Mary Johnston
  • Freddie blenched at a sudden vision of streetfuls of men, long Piccadillys of men, all cutting him, one after the other.

    Jill the Reckless | P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

British Dictionary definitions for blench (1 of 2)

blench1

/ (blɛntʃ) /


verb
  1. (intr) to shy away, as in fear; quail

Origin of blench

1
Old English blencan to deceive

British Dictionary definitions for blench (2 of 2)

blench2

/ (blɛntʃ) /


verb
  1. to make or become pale or white

Origin of blench

2
C19: variant of blanch

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012