The difference between Cringe and Flinch
When used as nouns, cringe means a posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling, whereas flinch means a reflexive jerking away.
When used as verbs, cringe means to bow or crouch in servility, whereas flinch means to make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus.
check bellow for the other definitions of Cringe and Flinch
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Cringe as a noun:
A posture or gesture of shrinking or recoiling.
Examples:
"He glanced with a cringe at the mess on his desk."
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Cringe as a noun (dialect):
A crick.
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Cringe as a noun:
An embarrassing event, item or behaviour which causes an onlooker to cringe.
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Cringe as a verb (dated, intransitive):
To bow or crouch in servility.
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Cringe as a verb (intransitive):
To shrink, cower, tense or recoil, as in fear, disgust or embarrassment.
Examples:
"He cringed as the bird collided with the window."
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Cringe as a verb (transitive, obsolete):
To contract; to draw together; to cause to shrink or wrinkle; to distort.
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Flinch as a noun:
A reflexive jerking away.
Examples:
"My eye doctor hates the flinch I have every time he tries to get near my eyes."
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Flinch as a noun (croquet):
The slipping of the foot from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.
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Flinch as a verb (intransitive):
To make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus; to cringe.
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Flinch as a verb:
To dodge (a question), to avoid an unpleasant task or duty
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Flinch as a verb (croquet):
To let the foot slip from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.
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Flinch as a verb: