1. Draw back, as with fear or pain
   "she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf";
   - squinch [N. Amer], funk, cringe, shrink, wince, recoil, quail, blench

1. A reflex response to sudden pain
   "His flinch revealed that the injury was still tender";
   - wince

Derived forms: flinched, flinches, flinching

Type of: jump, move, start, startle

Encyclopedia: Flinch