| 释义 |
▪ I. cringe, v.|krɪndʒ|
Also 3–5 crenge, crenche, 6 crintch, 7 crindge, cring, chringe, (9 dial. crinch).
[Cringe (crintch), first found in 16th c., appears to be a phonetic modification (with ordinary Eng. change of eng, enge, to ing, inge, as in hinge, singe, wing: see clink v.2) of an earlier crenge, found with variant crenche early in 13th c. Crenge, crenche, represent OE. *cręncgean, *cręncean (:—*krangjan, *krankjan), causal deriv. of the strong verb found in OE. with the double form cringan, crincan to draw oneself together spasmodically, to contract or shrink together into a bent or crooked position: see crank n.1 Primarily then crengen, crenchen was transitive, but already in 13th c. we find ‘cringe with the neck’.]
†1. trans. To compress, draw together, or draw in (any part of the body) as in shrinking from pain or danger; to contract, distort (the neck, face, etc.). Obs.
1598Bp. Hall Sat. iv. ii, He can..make a Spanish face with fauning cheere..shake his head, and cringe his necke and side. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. xiii. 100 Whip him, Fellowes, Till like a Boy you see him crindge his face, And whine aloud for mercy. c1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Red Herring, They cringing in their necks, like rats, smothered in the hold, poorly replied.
2. intr.
a. To draw in or contract the muscles of the body involuntarily; to shrink.
b. To shrink in or away (as with fear); to cower.
a1225St. Marher. 9 (MS. B.) [The dragon] bigon to crahien ant to crenge wið swire [MS. R. crenchen mit swire]. a1455Holland Houlate 956 He crepillit, he crengit, he carfully cryd. 1597R. Lichfield Trimming of T. Nashe (N.), What makes you sit downe so tenderly? You crintch in your buttocks like old father Pater patriæ. 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 69 The Boys that went before were glad to cringe behind, for they were afraid of the Lions. 1719D'Urfey Pills IV. 125 We have no twinge to make us cringe Or crinkle in the Hams. c1750J. Nelson Jrnl. (1836) 4 The words made me cringe, and my flesh seemed to creep on my bones. 1847Todd Cycl. Anat. III. 68/1 He was sensible..of something ‘cringing’ in the lower part of the thigh. 1861G. F. Berkeley Sportsm. W. Prairies vii. 101 The last two cows had to ‘cringe’ or tuck in their tails and haunches to avoid the ‘catcher’.
3. intr. To bend the body timorously or servilely; to cower. Often applied derisively or depreciatively to bowing, with the implication of attendant servility or cowardice. Const. to (a person).
1575–97[see cringing ppl. a.]. 1621–51Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. xv. 129 They cannot..carve at Table, chringe and make congies. 1647H. More Song of Soul i. i. lxiii, Thus cring'd he toward th' East. c1680Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 48 An opinion that to bow or cringe (as they profanely call it) before Almighty God is superstition. 1853Lynch Self-Improv. v. 123 You should bow to most people, but cringe to nobody.
4. fig. To behave obsequiously or with mean submissiveness; to show base or servile deference.
c1620H. Anderson Law of Christ, Cringing to those that from all virtue run. 1660–72Wood Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) I. 359 The most ready men to cring to and serve these times. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 105 Their chief business..had been to teach the people to cringe and the prince to domineer.
5. trans.
†a. To bow deferentially to (a person).
b. To bow a person in or out with cringes.
1609W. M. Man in Moone (1849) 17 Your tradesmen, which now cappe and cringe you. 1660H. More Myst. Godliness v. xiv. 169 Cringing and courting..not only Christ, but the blessed Virgin. 1822Byron Werner i. i. 441 Hence, and bow and cringe him here!
▸ intr. fig. To experience an involuntary inward shiver of embarrassment, awkwardness, disgust, etc.; to wince or shrink inwardly; (hence) to feel extremely embarrassed or uncomfortable. Freq. with at.
1868Harper's Mag. May 793/1 ‘I should like a smoke,’ was her only comment. I may have cringed at the idea of putting my pipe between those broken teeth, but I of course made haste to do what was hospitable. 1918W. M. Kirkland Joys of being Woman ix. 97 No woman was ever so proud as not to cringe in an ugly hat... For women self-respect is soonest secured by clothes. 1961D. Hitchens Forest in Night xvi. 162 Though his inner thoughts cringed at it, he forced himself to think back. 1974Audubon Jan. 120/2 They cannot even understand why conservationists cringe upon hearing hardwood trees, the noble oaks and elms of poetry, referred to as ‘weed trees’. 1993Time 25 Jan. 18 Privately, Clinton advisers cringed at the wreckage left behind by all the U-turns.
▪ II. cringe, n.|krɪndʒ|
[f. cringe v.]
1. A deferential, servile, or fawning obeisance. Often a hostile or derisive name for a bow.
15971st Pt. Return fr. Parnass. v. iii, That better doe rewarde each scriveners pen, Each tapsters cringe, each rubbinge ostler. 1603B. Jonson Sejanus i. i, He is the now court God, and well applyed With sacrefice of Knees, of Crookes, and Cringe. 1624Gataker Transubst. 113 Where are all those crossings and bendings, and cringes and turnings? 1700R. Pearson Naaman Vind. 10 Nor could he hope, by a few external Cringes..to expiate for his notorious neglect. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 180 ⁋1 The professors..flocked round him with all the cringes of awkward complaisance. 1852Thackeray Esmond i. (1876) 2 Performing cringes and congees like a court-chamberlain.
2. fig. A cringing or obsequious act.
1610Healey St. Aug. Citie of God v. xxiv, Puffed up with..the cringes of their subjects. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 180 ⁋12 To purchase favour by cringes and compliance. |