Library / English Dictionary

WINCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A reflex response to sudden pain

Synonyms:

flinch; wince

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("wince" is a kind of...):

jump; start; startle (a sudden involuntary movement)

Derivation:

wince (draw back, as with fear or pain)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The facial expression of sudden pain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("wince" is a kind of...):

facial expression; facial gesture (a gesture executed with the facial muscles)

Derivation:

wince (make a face indicating disgust or dislike)

wince (draw back, as with fear or pain)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a face indicating disgust or dislike

Example:

She winced when she heard his pompous speech

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "wince" is one way to...):

grimace; make a face; pull a face (contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional state)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

wince (the facial expression of sudden pain)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Draw back, as with fear or pain

Example:

she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf

Synonyms:

cringe; flinch; funk; quail; recoil; shrink; squinch; wince

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "wince" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wince"):

retract; shrink back (pull away from a source of disgust or fear)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

wince (a reflex response to sudden pain)

wince (the facial expression of sudden pain)

Credits

 Context examples: 

From wincing he went to whimpering.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The young inspector winced at my companion’s ironical comments.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The villein took the cruel blow without wince or cry, as one to whom stripes are a birthright and an inheritance.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“It was a—it was a pull,” said Traddles, with his usual wince at that expression.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I ground my teeth in my anger and determination till the man I was attending winced under my hand and Oofty-Oofty looked at me with curiosity.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

As we passed along, the gravel hurt my feet, and Lucy noticed me wince.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The bent head, the averted eye, the faltering voice, the wincing figure—these, and not the unshrinking gaze and frank reply, are the true signals of passion.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Follow it up! cried Belcher, and in rushed the smith, pelting in his half-arm blows, and taking the returns without a wince, until Crab Wilson went down exhausted in the corner.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He winced but held on.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The Gascon warrior winced a little at the allusion, nor were his countrymen around him better pleased, for on the only occasion when they had encountered the arms of France without English aid they had met with a heavy defeat.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)