Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To cringe in fear.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To sink by bending the knees; crouch: squat: stoop or sink downward, especially in fear or shame.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To stoop by bending the knees; to crouch; to squat; hence, to quail; to sink through fear.
- v. obsolete To cherish with care.
WordNet 3.0
- v. show submission or fear
- v. crouch or curl up
Etymologies
- From Middle Low German kuren or from Scandinavian (Icelandic kúra ("to doze")). Compare German kauern ("to squat"). Unrelated to coward, which is of Latin origin. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English couren, of Scandinavian origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Van Gundy has hinted how he might react to an Orlando title, saying he might "cower" in a "fetal position.”
Don't expect a neutral voice from Jeff Van Gundy during NBA Finals
“So Wright's opinions didn't change but Obama's of Wright did ... did Obama's view of America change (cuz that would allow for the change of heart on Wright) or did he "cower" in the face of falling poll numbers?”
“Its meaning in that context is "To draw back instinctively, as from something alarming" but because of the other meanings, there's also a feel or image of a person making himself smaller in fear, which gets us back to "cower" or "cringe.”
“He warned that "the mistakes of 2002 are being repeated," meaning, he said, that Democrats should never again "cower" before Bush on security issues, as so many at the grass roots saw them doing before the 2002 elections.”
“VIDEO: * Senator* Obama expresses support for KSM military tribunal Democrat theme of the week: "Let's not 'cower' over KSM civilian trial”
“Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday fought back against criticism that trying accused Sept. 11 terrorists in New York City poses a risk, saying that U.S. courts have safely tried terrorists, and that Americans should not "cower" in anticipation of the trials.”
“Paul does not mean that a wife must cower in the presence of her husband.”
“My heart seemed to cower in my chest as I waited for him to drop his bombshell.”
“I would walk right up to them and that shocked them—I guess they thought that a fat person would rather cower behind a buffet than be confrontational about their rudeness.”
“And he insisted that the bombing shouldn't make foreign investors cower in fear either.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cower’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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SMILE and other emotive verbs
Single verbs that describe expression or emotional reaction. "He __ed" (smiled/gulped/scoffed...)
smile, beam, sneer, scoff, giggle, laugh, snigger, scowl, grin, leer, wince, grimace and 97 more...
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Naresh_Special
portent, organically, malicious, sham, olfactory, vertebrates, protuberance, sensilla, flagitious, pleonastic, exiguous, wayward and 102 more...
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LIT - Odyssey - key words and phrases
Key words of the Odyssey by Homer in English including all those famous repeating epitethons like
"bright-eyed Athene"
"wine-dark sea"
"rosy-fingered dawn"
"long suf...yearling, wild celery, Wain, Themis, talon, slither, sedge, sea eagle, scurf, rile, prevaricate, poplar tree and 732 more...
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Words the sound like their meaning
love, hate, butterfly, whisper, shout, boil, simmer, glide, kiss, wisp, hum, hammer and 30 more...
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general search words
words when I found them in the articles
benign, pantomime, deregulation, regressive, morose, staid, mercurial, temperament, ludicrous, fallacy, discord, afloat and 17 more...
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Fearlobes
EEK! Emotion words and words associated with fear. Let's avoid -phobia words.
terrified, threatened, paralyzed, afraid, tormented, frightened, scared, blench, worried, cowardly, fretful, menaced and 57 more...
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SAT words
tergiversate, cymotrichous, vigilance, wince, consternation, cower, neutralize, euphony, cacophony, misanthrope, bibliophile, kleptomania and 81 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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jan_21
magoosh listens
infuriating, imperciptible, sporadic, galvanize, shirk, protean, versatile, auspicious, clairvoyance, nary, presentiment, qualm and 63 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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kingofbash's Words
bash, poleaxed, salacious, libertine, charlatan, aplomb, fortuitous, finagle, apoplectic, debutante, carte blanche, aardvark and 472 more...
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kirstenio's Words
lascivious, transcendant, phantasmagoria, salacious, beatitude, solitude, pseudo, pretentious, inanity, sublimation, clobber, obscurity and 186 more...
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List for Test Day
heresy, reversion, predilection, pedagogy, disparate, virtuous, refurbish, efficaciously, provenance, heckler, amorphous, epitome and 236 more...
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Vocalublary Awareness
Words I need to use more to increase my vocabulary.
incredulous, egregious, prolific, ubiquitous, aplomb, resilience, persevere, punctilious, perspicacious, inordinate, articulate, enunciate and 199 more...
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What Do You Mean @
What Abt these ... :)
somber, self effacing, conundrum, outlandish, mesmerize, endemic, shelve, fledgling, acolyte, absurd, rampant, narcissist and 163 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cower.

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