blench

¹

[ blench ]

verb (used without object)

1. to shrink; flinch; quail:

   an unsteady eye that blenched under another's gaze.

blench

²

[ blench ]

verb (used with or without object)

1. to make or become pale or white; blanch.

blench

¹

/ blɛntʃ /

verb

1. intr to shy away, as in fear; quail

blench

²

/ blɛntʃ /

verb

1. to make or become pale or white

Other Words From

• blencher noun
• blenching·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of blench¹

before 1000; Middle English blenchen, Old English blencan; cognate with Old Norse blekkja, Middle High German blenken

Origin of blench²

First recorded in 1805–15; variant of blanch ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of blench¹

Old English blencan to deceive

Origin of blench²

C19: variant of blanch

Example Sentences

And for those who blench and tremble at the thought of audience participation, take a breath.

From New York Times

Some might blench at being told how complex systems “evolve in both deterministic and stochastic ways”; might ‘predictable and random’ have sufficed?

From Nature

But wherever the mûmakil came there the horses would not go, but blenched and swerved away; and the great monsters were unfought, and stood like towers of defence, and the Haradrim rallied about them.

From Literature

This may cause some fans to blench, but it’s in keeping with some of the character’s adventures as written by Don McGregor in the 1970s, when King T’Challa took on the Ku Klux Klan.

From The Guardian

Indeed, again and again, I found myself reading and agreeing with Thomas, however much I blenched at the idea of making novels out of "superobjectives", "thematic questions" and "seed words".

From The Guardian