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# flinch

«flinch» in Mova's school dictionary: **to make a small, quick movement backwards or away because…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (flinch, flinches, flinched, flinching); noun (a flinch)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To flinch is to make a small, quick movement backwards or away because of pain, fear or surprise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flinch/#m1)

2) Not to flinch from something means to face it bravely without avoiding it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flinch/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In stories, a character flinches when a door slams or someone raises a hand, showing fear. In everyday life, children may flinch at an injection. In sport, a brave goalkeeper does not flinch. Phrases: «without flinching», «didn't flinch», «flinch from a task».

### examples

- She flinched when the nurse gave her the injection. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flinch/#x1)
- He didn't flinch when the ball flew at him. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flinch/#x2)
- The dog flinched at the sound of fireworks. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flinch/#x3)
- She faced the bully without flinching. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flinch/#x4)
- He gave a little flinch when I touched the bruise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flinch/#x5)
- The firefighter never flinched from danger. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flinch/#x6)
- The ogre thought to terrify his foe, but Watanabe never flinched. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flinch/#x7)

### note

Regular verb: flinched. Noun: a flinch. Similar: wince (a face of pain), recoil.

### In the corpora

- [Getting hurt in front of people adds embarrassment to pain; flinching when a ball comes near is normal for a while afterwards.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/7-chased-trapped-frightened-scary-moments-that-come-back-at-night/14/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «flinch» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/flinch/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.