cringe
verb- [intransitive]
to move back and/or away from somebody because you are afraid synonym cower畏缩;怯退 a child cringing in terror 吓得直退缩的小孩
- [intransitive]
to feel very embarrassed and uncomfortable about something 感到尴尬不安;觉得难为情 I cringe when I think of the poems I wrote then. 每当我想起我那时写的诗歌就感到很难堪。 She felt herself cringe with embarrassment at the memory. 她感到自己因回忆而尴尬而畏缩。 The very idea made him cringe inside. 这个念头使他心里直发毛。
Word OriginMiddle English crenge, crenche, related to Old English cringan, crincan ‘bend, yield, fall in battle’, of Germanic origin and related to Dutch krengen ‘heel over’ and German krank ‘sick’, also to the verb crank.