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verb (used without object)
1.
to shrink, bend, or crouch, especially in fear or servility; cower.
2.
to fawn.
noun
3.
servile or fawning deference.
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Cringe
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
| to flee; abscond: |
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English crengen, crenchen (transitive); Old English *crencean, crencgean, causative of cringan, crincan to yield, fall (in battle)
1175–1225; Middle English crengen, crenchen (transitive); Old English *crencean, crencgean, causative of cringan, crincan to yield, fall (in battle)
Related forms
cring·er, noun
cring·ing·ly, adverb
cring·ing·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To CRINGE
Example Sentences
- To their credit, they may cringe a little at the truth but they come back for more of it.
- Still, it was less the costume than the acting that made us cringe.
- They want the best leaders, but they cringe at the cost.
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
cringe
early 13c., from causative of O.E. cringan "give way, fall (in battle), become bent," from P.Gmc. *krank- "bend, curl up."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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