blench

/blɛnt͡ʃ/

Etymology

From Middle English blench and blenchen, from Old English blenċan (“to deceive, cheat”), from Proto-Germanic *blankijaną (“to deceive”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ-. Cognate with Icelandic blekkja (“to deceive, cheat, impose upon”).

Why this word is great

BLENCH — [Verb, Noun] To shrink back or flinch out of fear or discomfort; a deceitful act or trick. From Middle English blenchen, from Old English blenċan ("to deceive, cheat"), from Proto-Germanic *blankijaną ("to deceive"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- ("to shine, deceive"). Unlike "flinch" (a mere physical recoil) or "quail" (a silent, shrinking dread), to blench is to step back with a liar’s grace. It is the fox feigning injury to lead the hounds astray, the politician’s too-quick smile when cornered, or the way a guilty child’s eyes dart away—a recoil that masks as much as it reveals. The body betrays what the mind conceals.

noun

  1. A deceit; a trick.
  2. A sidelong glance.“These blenches gave my heart another youth.”

verb

  1. To shrink; start back; give way; flinch; turn aside or fly off.“Blench not at thy chosen lot.”
  2. To quail.
  3. To deceive; cheat.
  4. To draw back from; shrink; avoid; elude; deny, as from fear.“Yesterday the government proclaimed no turning back, but the lords representing the likes of the disability charity Scope or Macmillan Cancer Support should make them blench.”
  5. To hinder; obstruct; disconcert; foil.
  6. To fly off; to turn aside.“Though sometimes you do blench from this to that.”