• Cringe

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /ˈkɹɪndÊ’/
    • Rhymes: -ɪndÊ’

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    From Middle English *crinchen, crenchen, crengen, from Old English cringan, crincan ("to yield, cringe; fall; perish, die"), from Proto-Germanic *kringanÄ…, *krinkanÄ… ("to fall"), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- ("to twist, wind"). Cognate with Scots crenge, creinge, creenge, crienge ("to cringe, shrug"). Related to crinkle.

    Full definition of cringe

    Noun

    cringe

    (plural cringes)
    1. A posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling.He glanced with a cringe at the mess on his desk.
    2. (dialect) A crick.

    Verb

    1. (dated, intransitive) To bow or crouch in servility.
      • MiltonSly hypocrite, ... who more than thou
        Once fawned and cringed, and servilely adored
        Heaven's awful monarch?
      • 1903, W. E. B. Du Bois, ,He heard the hateful clank of their chains; he felt them cringe and grovel, and there rose within him a protest and a prophecy.
      • 1904, Jack London, Batard in ,Leclere was bent on the coming of the day when Batard should wilt in spirit and cringe and whimper at his feet.
    2. (intransitive) To shrink, tense or recoil, as in fear, disgust or embarrassment.He cringed as the bird collided with the window.
      • BunyanWhen they were come up to the place where the lions were, the boys that went before were glad to cringe behind, for they were afraid of the lions.
      • 1917, Jack London, ,But he made no whimper. Nor did he wince or cringe to the blows. He bored straight in, striving, without avoiding a blow, to beat and meet the blow with his teeth.
    3. (transitive, obsolete) To contract; to draw together; to cause to shrink or wrinkle; to distort.
      • ShakespeareTill like a boy you see him cringe his face,
        And whine aloud for mercy.

    Derived terms

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