cringe


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cringe

 (krĭnj)
intr.v. cringed, cring·ing, cring·es
1. To shrink back, as in fear; cower.
2. To behave in a servile way; fawn.
n.
An act or instance of cringing.
[Middle English crengen, to bend haughtily, probably ultimately from Old English cringan, to give way.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cringe

(krɪndʒ)
vb (intr)
1. to shrink or flinch, esp in fear or servility
2. to behave in a servile or timid way
3. informal
a. to wince in embarrassment or distaste
b. to experience a sudden feeling of embarrassment or distaste
n
4. the act of cringing
5. (Sociology) the cultural cringe Austral subservience to overseas cultural standards
[Old English cringan to yield in battle; related to Old Norse krangr weak, Middle High German krenken to weaken]
ˈcringer n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cringe

(krɪndʒ)

v. cringed, cring•ing,
n. v.i.
1. to shrink or crouch, esp. in fear or servility; cower.
2. to fawn; toady.
n.
3. servile or fawning deference.
[1175–1225; Middle English crengen,crenchen (transitive); Old English *crencean, crencgean, causative of cringan, crincan to yield, fall (in battle), c. Old Frisian krenza, Dutch krengen to keel over]
cring′er, n.
cring′ing•ly, adv.
cring′ing•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

cringe


Past participle: cringed
Gerund: cringing

Imperative
cringe
cringe
Present
I cringe
you cringe
he/she/it cringes
we cringe
you cringe
they cringe
Preterite
I cringed
you cringed
he/she/it cringed
we cringed
you cringed
they cringed
Present Continuous
I am cringing
you are cringing
he/she/it is cringing
we are cringing
you are cringing
they are cringing
Present Perfect
I have cringed
you have cringed
he/she/it has cringed
we have cringed
you have cringed
they have cringed
Past Continuous
I was cringing
you were cringing
he/she/it was cringing
we were cringing
you were cringing
they were cringing
Past Perfect
I had cringed
you had cringed
he/she/it had cringed
we had cringed
you had cringed
they had cringed
Future
I will cringe
you will cringe
he/she/it will cringe
we will cringe
you will cringe
they will cringe
Future Perfect
I will have cringed
you will have cringed
he/she/it will have cringed
we will have cringed
you will have cringed
they will have cringed
Future Continuous
I will be cringing
you will be cringing
he/she/it will be cringing
we will be cringing
you will be cringing
they will be cringing
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been cringing
you have been cringing
he/she/it has been cringing
we have been cringing
you have been cringing
they have been cringing
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been cringing
you will have been cringing
he/she/it will have been cringing
we will have been cringing
you will have been cringing
they will have been cringing
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been cringing
you had been cringing
he/she/it had been cringing
we had been cringing
you had been cringing
they had been cringing
Conditional
I would cringe
you would cringe
he/she/it would cringe
we would cringe
you would cringe
they would cringe
Past Conditional
I would have cringed
you would have cringed
he/she/it would have cringed
we would have cringed
you would have cringed
they would have cringed
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.cringe - draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf"
flinch, funk, quail, recoil, wince, shrink, squinch
move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right"
shrink back, retract - pull away from a source of disgust or fear
2.cringe - show submission or fear
fawn, grovel, cower, crawl, creep
bend, flex - form a curve; "The stick does not bend"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

cringe

verb
1. shrink, flinch, quail, recoil, start, shy, tremble, quiver, cower, draw back, blench I cringed in horror.
2. wince, squirm, writhe The idea makes me cringe.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

cringe

verb
1. To draw away involuntarily, usually out of fear or disgust:
blench, flinch, quail, recoil, shrink, shy, start, wince.
2. To support slavishly every opinion or suggestion of a superior:
bootlick, fawn, grovel, kowtow, slaver, toady, truckle.
Informal: apple-polish, brownnose, cotton.
Slang: suck up.
Idioms: curry favor, dance attendance, kiss someone's feet, lick someone's boots.
noun
An act of drawing back in an involuntary or instinctive fashion:
flinch, recoil, shrink, wince.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يَنْكَمِش خائِفا
krčit se
krybe sammen
hrökkva undan
susigūžti
atrautiesnovērsties
korkuyla büzülmek

cringe

[krɪndʒ] VI
1. (= shrink back) → encogerse (at ante) to cringe with fear → encogerse de miedo
to cringe with embarrassment → morirse de vergüenza
it makes me cringe → me da horror
2. (= fawn) → acobardarse, agacharse (before ante)
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

cringe

[ˈkrɪndʒ] vi
(with disgust, physically) → avoir un mouvement de recul; (mentally) → se gêner
to cringe with embarrassment, to cringe in embarrassment → avoir envie de rentrer sous terre
it makes me cringe! (with embarrassment) → ça me donne envie de rentrer sous terre!; (with disgust) → Ça me hérisse! cringe-makingcringe-making [ˈkrɪndʒmeɪkɪŋ] adj (= embarrassing) → embarrassant(e)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

cringe

vi
(= shrink back) → zurückschrecken (→ at vor +dat); (fig) → schaudern; to cringe before somebody → vor jdm zurückweichen or -schrecken; he cringed at the thought → er or ihn schauderte bei dem Gedanken; he cringed when she mispronounced his name → er zuckte zusammen, als sie seinen Namen falsch aussprach
(= humble oneself, fawn) → katzbuckeln, kriechen (→ to vor +dat); to go cringing to somebody → zu jdm gekrochen kommen; a cringing person → ein Kriecher m; cringing behaviour → kriecherisches Benehmen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

cringe

[krɪndʒ] vi (in terror) to cringe (from) → ritrarsi impaurito/a (da)
to cringe (before) (in servility) → strisciare (davanti a)
the very thought of it makes me cringe (fam) (in embarrassment) → solo a pensarci mi sento sprofondare
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

cringe

(krindʒ) verb
to shrink back in fear, terror etc. The dog cringed when his cruel master raised his hand to strike him.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
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References in classic literature ?
Jaggers, "either beats, or cringes. He may cringe and growl, or cringe and not growl; but he either beats or cringes.
"Either beats or cringes," said Wemmick, not at all addressing himself to me.
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For indeed, every sect of them, hath a diverse posture, or cringe by themselves, which cannot but move derision in worldlings, and depraved politics, who are apt to contemn holy things.
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Helpless, ridiculous, confined, bobbing like a toy mandarin, you sit like a rat in a trap--you, before whom butlers cringe on solid land--and must squeak upward through a slit in your peripatetic sarcophagus to make your feeble wishes known.
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As they came forward they began to cringe towards Moreau and chant, quite regardless of one another, fragments of the latter half of the litany of the Law,--"His is the Hand that wounds; His is the Hand that heals," and so forth.
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He appeared to cringe, mute, as if words had failed him through grief; then - bang!
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"It is all very well for Rostov, whose father sends him ten thousand rubles at a time, to talk about not wishing to cringe to anybody and not be anyone's lackey, but I who have nothing but my brains have to make a career and must not miss opportunities, but must avail myself of them!" he reflected.
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She was far too pretty to cringe in this way, but Peter thought it his due, and he would answer condescendingly, "It is good.
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One, @RealDaveRoberts, said on Twitter: "Watching the #BBCBreakfast hosts vibing to MC Grammar is honestly the most cringe way to start your weekend.
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