cower
Verb
Verb Forms: cowered, cowering, cowers
- To crouch down in fear or shame.
- crouch or curl up
- show submission or fear
- To crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear.
- To crouch in general.
- To cause to cower; to frighten into submission.
- To be a coward; to hide away or refuse to face opposition due to fear.
- To cherish with care.
Examples
- He watched his opponent cower after realizing his challenge was incorrect in Words With Friends.
- He'd be useless in war. He'd just cower in his bunker until the enemy came in and shot him, or until the war was over.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English couren, cowre, from Middle Low German kûren (“to lie in wait; linger”) or from North Germanic (Icelandic kúra (“to doze”)); according to Pokorny, all are ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to curve, bend”), see also Proto-Germanic *kuddô (“shell, pod”).
Cognate with German kauern (“to squat”), Dutch koeren (“to keep watch (in a cowered position)”), Serbo-Croatian kutriti (“to lie in a bent position”), Swedish kura (“huddle, cower”). Unrelated to coward, which is of Latin origin.
Scrabble Score: 10
cower: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordcower: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
cower: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary