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cower

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Pronunciation

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(General American)IPA^(key): /ˈkaʊɚ/
(Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key): /ˈkaʊə/
Audio(Southern England): (file)
Rhymes:-aʊ.ə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

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FromMiddle Englishcouren,cowre, fromMiddle Low Germankûren(“to lie in wait; linger”) or fromNorth Germanic (Icelandickúra(“to doze”)). Cognate withGermankauern(“to squat”),Dutchkoeren(“to keep watch (in a cowered position)”),Serbo-Croatiankutriti(“to lie in a bent position”),Swedishkura(“huddle, cower”). Unrelated tocoward, which is of Latin origin.

Verb

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cower (third-person singular simple presentcowers,present participlecowering,simple past and past participlecowered)

(intransitive) Tocrouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, infear.
He'd be useless in war. He'd justcower in his bunker until the enemy came in and shot him, or until the war was over.
- 1700,John Dryden, "The Cock and the Fox", inFables, Ancient and Modern, published March 1700:
  Our dame sitscowering o'er a kitchen fire.
(intransitive, archaic) Tocrouch in general.
- 1764,Oliver Goldsmith,The Traveller:
  Some sterner virtues o’er the mountain’s breast
  May sit, like falcons,cowering on the nest
- 1801,Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, inThalaba the Destroyer, volume(please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [F]orT[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […],→OCLC:
  The mother bird had mov’d not,
  Butcowering o’er her nestlings,
  Sate confident and fearless,
  And watch’d the wonted guest.
(transitive) To cause to cower; tofrighten intosubmission.
- 1895,Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industry of Kansas:
  This done, their doubts will vanish, and they will stand confronted by an object lesson which must have the effect either to arouse them to a determination to banish despotism from the land, orcower them into submission and servitude.
- 2007, DJ Birmingham,The Queen's Tale: The Struggle for the Survival of Ireland, page170:
  My spirit willcower them and make them wish they had never risen up against me.
- 2010, Marilyn Brown Oden,The Dead Saint:
  A vicious Mafia threat intended tocower him—but the chief doesn't cower.