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wince

noun
/wɪns/

Etymology

From Middle English wyncen, from Anglo-Norman winchir (compare Old French guenchir), from Frankish *wankjan, related to *winkijan (“to flex, bend”). See also German winken.

  1. derived from *wankjan✻
  2. derived from winchir
  3. inherited from wyncen

Definitions

  1. A sudden movement or gesture of shrinking away.

  2. A reel used in dyeing, steeping, or washing cloth

    A reel used in dyeing, steeping, or washing cloth; a winch. It is placed over the division wall between two wince pits so as to allow the cloth to descend into either compartment at will.

  3. To flinch as if in pain or distress.

    • I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word.
    • “Perhaps it is because I have been excommunicated. It's absurd, but I feel like the Jackdaw of Rheims.” ¶ She winced and bowed her head. Each time that he spoke flippantly of the Church he caused her pain.
    • The two Gordon setters came obediently to heel. Sir Oswald Feiling winced as he turned to go home. He had felt a warning twinge of lumbago.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. To wash (cloth), dip it in dye, etc., with the use of a wince.

    2. To kick or flounce when unsteady or impatient.

      • A horse winces.

    3. A surname.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for wince. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA