blench1
/blɛn(t)ʃ
/verb [no object]
Make a sudden flinching movement out of fear or pain: he blenched and struggled to regain his composure...
- But even Melville might have blenched at Browning's final exordium.
- Martha Stewart would blench at the Beehive decor, and it's hard to imagine Helen Clark posing with fluffy Persian cats, but otherwise Martha and Helen could pretty much swap places.
- A headline in the current Spectator made me blench.
Synonyms
flinch, start, shy (away), recoil, shrink, pull back, back away, draw back, cringe, wince, quiver, shudder, shiver, tremble, quake, shake, quail, cower, waver, falter, hesitate, get cold feet, blanch
Origin
Old English blencan 'deceive', of Germanic origin; later influenced by blink.
Rhymes
blench2
/blɛn(t)ʃ/verb chiefly dialect
Variant spelling of blanch.