cringe
Use Cringe in a sentence
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.
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. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To cringe
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Cringe
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is yaff. Does it mean:
| to bark; yelp. |
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
cringe (krɪndʒ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to shrink or flinch, esp in fear or servility |
| 2. | to behave in a servile or timid way |
| 3. | informal |
| a. to wince in embarrassment or distaste | |
| b. to experience a sudden feeling of embarrassment or distaste | |
| —n | |
| 4. | the act of cringing |
| 5. | (Austral) the cultural cringe subservience to overseas cultural standards |
| [Old English cringan to yield in battle; related to Old Norse krangr weak, Middle High German krenken to weaken] | |
| 'cringer | |
| —n | |
| 'cringingly | |
| —adv | |
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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Example sentences
Ordinarily such a lopsided comparison would make me cringe and conclude that it was aimed at the gullible.
Still, it was less the costume than the acting that made us cringe.
You've seen news footage of the devastation caused by major oil spills, and you cringe every time you change your oil.
To their credit, they may cringe a little at the truth but they come back for more of it.
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