squinch Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a small arch built across the interior angle of two walls (usually to support a spire)
  2. verb crouch down
  3. verb draw back, as with fear or pain
    flinch; recoil; wince; quail; cringe; shrink; funk.
    • she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf
  4. verb cross one's eyes as if in strabismus
    squint.
    • The children squinted so as to scare each other

WordNet

Squinch noun
Etymology
Corrupted fr. sconce.
Definitions
  1. (Arch.) A small arch thrown across the corner of a square room to support a superimposed mass, as where an octagonal spire or drum rests upon a square tower; -- called also sconce, and sconcheon.

Webster 1913