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Coward www.ask.com/Coward Questions Coward Coward Answers
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noun
1.
a person who lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.; a timid or easily intimidated person.
adjective
2.
lacking courage; very fearful or timid.
3.
proceeding from or expressive of fear or timidity: a coward cry.
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Coward
is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English < Old French couard-, couart cowardly, equivalent to coue tail (< Latin cauda) + -art -ard
1175–1225; Middle English < Old French couard-, couart cowardly, equivalent to coue tail (< Latin cauda) + -art -ard
Synonyms
1. craven, poltroon, dastard, recreant, milksop.
1. craven, poltroon, dastard, recreant, milksop.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
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.
Cite This Source
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Link To Coward
Collins
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
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
coward
early 13c., from O.Fr. coart, from coe "tail," from L. coda, dialectal variant of cauda "tail," of uncertain origin + -ard, an agent noun suffix denoting one that carries on some action or possesses some quality, with derogatory connotation (see -ard). The word probably reflects
EXPANDan animal metaphoric sense still found in expressions like turning tail and tail between legs. Coart was the name of the hare in O.Fr. versions of "Reynard the Fox." As a surname (attested from 1255) it represents O.E. cuhyrde "cow-herd."
COLLAPSE
"Cowardice, as distinguished from panic, is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend the functioning of the imagination." [Ernest Hemingway, "Men at War," 1942]An O.E. word for "cowardly" was earg, which also meant "slothful."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Word Dynamo Rating For Coward
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