quinch

quinch means to twitch, as if in pain; flinch, wince.

Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, quinch ranks #2,710 of 42,749 for Qualifying.

Etymology

First attested 1530 as quynche, possibly from unrecorded Middle English *quinchen, itself of obscure origin. Perhaps a fusion of Middle English quicchen, quecchen (“to shake, tremble; twitch, flinch”) and Middle English winchen (“to flinch, wince; veer or move away”), making it equivalent to a blend of quitch + winch. Compare Saterland Frisian kwinkje (“to blink, wink with the eyes”), Middle Dutch quincken, quinken ("to shake, quiver"; whence modern Dutch kwinken, kwinkeleren (“to warble”)), German Low German quinken (“to blink, wink”).

verb

To twitch, as if in pain; flinch, wince.

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

wince 68% match — A sudden movement or gesture of shrinking away. vs quinch →
flinching 68% match — A flinching motion; a flinch. vs quinch →
quitch 63% match — To shake (something); to stir, move. vs quinch →
ooch 62% match — To move or slide (oneself or someone, or something) by a small amount. vs quinch →
flincher 62% match — One who flinches. vs quinch →
blench 62% match — To shrink; start back; give way; flinch; turn aside or fly off. vs quinch →
wincing 61% match — The act by which someone winces; a grimace. vs quinch →
quave 61% match — To quiver or tremble. vs quinch →