v.
- make a quick, nervous movement as an instinctive reaction to fear or pain.
-
(flinch from)
avoid through fear or anxiety.
n.
an act of flinching.
Derivative
- flincher n.
- flinching adj.
- flinchingly adv.
Etymology
C16 (in the sense ‘slink or sneak off’): from OFr. flenchir ‘turn aside’, of W. Gmc origin.