Meaning of cringe in English
Verb
cringeEtymology
Middle English crenge, crenche, related to Old Englishcringan, crincan ‘bend, yield, fall in battle’, of Germanic origin and related to Dutch krengen‘heel over’ and German krank‘sick’, also to crankDefinitions
1. draw back, as with fear or painExamples
- « she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf »
- 2. show submission or fear