wince
See also: Wince
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English wyncen, from Anglo-Norman winchir (compare Old French guenchir), from Frankish *wankjan. See also German winken.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
wince (plural winces)
- A sudden movement or gesture of shrinking away.
- 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.
Translations edit
gesture of shrinking away
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Verb edit
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wince (third-person singular simple present winces, present participle wincing, simple past and past participle winced)
- (intransitive) To flinch as if in pain or distress.
- c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
- I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- “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.
- 1935, Francis Beeding, “7/2”, in The Norwich Victims[1]:
- 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.
- (transitive) To wash (cloth), dip it in dye, etc., with the use of a wince.
- To kick or flounce when unsteady or impatient.
- A horse winces.
Translations edit
to flinch as if in pain
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to wash, dip in dye, etc., with the use of a wince