wince

Middle English wincen, winchen, from Anglo-Norman *wenchir, Old Northern French *wenchier (compare Old French guenchir), from Frankish *wenkjan, from Proto-Germanic *wankjan. See also German winken.

• IPA^(key): /wɪns/

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• Rhymes: -ɪns

wince (plural winces)

1. A sudden movement or gesture of shrinking away.
2. 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.

wince (third-person singular simple present winces, present participle wincing, simple past and past participle winced)

1. (intransitive) To flinch as if in pain or distress.
   • William Shakespeare

     I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word.

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 17, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     “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:

     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.

2. (transitive) To wash (cloth), dip it in dye, etc., with the use of a wince.
3. To kick or flounce when unsteady or impatient.

   A horse winces.

• cringe