FLINCH, verb intransitive [I have not found this word in any other language; but the sense of it occurs in blench, and not improbably it is from the same root, with a different prefix.] 1. To shrink; to withdraw from any suffering or undertaking, from pain or danger; to fail of proceeding, or of performing any thing. Never flinch from duty. One of the parties flinched from the combat. A child, by a constant course of kindness, may be accustomed to bear very rough usage without flinching or complaining. 2. To fail.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI