[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

cringe \cringe\, n.
   servile civility; fawning; a shrinking or bowing, as in fear
   or servility. "with cringe and shrug, and bow obsequious."
   --cowper.
   1913 webster

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

cringe \cringe\ kri^nj, v. t. imp.  p. p. cringed
   kri^njd; p. pr.  vb. n. cringing. as. crincgan,
   cringan, crincan, to jield, fall; akin to e. crank.
   to draw one's self together as in fear or servility; to bend
   or crouch with base humility; to wince; hence, to make court
   in a degrading manner; to fawn.
   1913 webster

         when they were come up to the place where the lions
         were, the boys that went before were glad to cringe
         behind, for they were afraid of the lions. --bunyan.
   1913 webster

         sly hypocrite, . . . who more than thou
         once fawned and cringed, and servilely adored
         heaven's awful monarch?                  --milton.
   1913 webster

         flatterers . . . are always bowing and cringing.
                                                  --arbuthnot.
   1913 webster
see also:
cringed cringing 

[3] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

cringe \cringe\, v. t.
   to contract; to draw together; to cause to shrink or wrinkle;
   to distort. obs.
   1913 webster

         till like a boy you see him cringe his face,
         and whine aloud for mercy.               --shak.
   1913 webster

[4] : WordNet (r) 2.0

cringe
     v 1: draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they
          showed the slaughtering of the calf" syn: flinch, squinch,
           funk, shrink, wince, recoil, quail
     2: show submission or fear syn: fawn, crawl, creep, cower,
         grovel
see also:
flinch squinch funk shrink wince recoil 
quail fawn crawl creep cower 
grovel 

[5] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

86 moby thesaurus words for "cringe":
   apple-polish, avoid, bend, bend the knee, bend the neck, bend to,
   blench, blink, bootlick, bow, bow and scrape, bow down, bow to,
   brown-nose, cower, crawl, creep, cringe to, croodle, crouch,
   crouch before, curtsy, defer, do homage, do obeisance, dodge,
   draw back, draw in, duck, eat dirt, evade, fade, fall back, fawn,
   flatter, flinch, funk, genuflect, get down, grovel, hang back,
   hunch, hunch down, jib, kneel, kneel to, knuckle to, kowtow,
   lick the dust, lickspittle, pull back, pull in, pull out, quail,
   quiver, recoil, reel back, retract, retreat, scrouch down,
   sheer off, shrink, shrink back, shy, sidestep, skulk, slaver,
   slink, sneak, squat, start aside, start back, stoop, swerve,
   toadeat, toady, tremble, truckle, truckle to, turn aside, wallow,
   weasel, weasel out, welter, wince, withdraw

Cringe >> C Words
Cringe, definition of term: Cringe
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