no obj.
1- make a quick, nervous movement of the face or body as an instinctive reaction to fear or pain（因害怕或疼痛而）退缩, 畏缩：
she flinched at the acidity in his voice
他尖刻的话音令她畏缩
he had faced death without flinching.
他曾面对死亡毫不退缩。
1.1
flinch from
figurative avoid doing or becoming involved in (something) through fear or anxiety〈喻〉（因恐惧或焦虑而）对…退缩不前, 从…退缩：I rarely flinch from a fight when I'm sure of myself.
对自己有信心时, 我很少惧怕斗争。
派生词
flincher
nounflinchingly
adverb词源
mid 16th cent. （in the sense 'slink or sneak off'）： from Old French flenchir 'turn aside', of West Germanic origin and related to German lenken 'to guide, steer'.