Standard Lemma guide

squinch

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /skwɪnt͡ʃ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪntʃ

1

noun

Meaning 1

A structure constructed between two adjacent walls to aid in the transition from a polygonal to a circular structure, as when a dome is constructed on top of a square room.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: architecture

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To scrunch up (one's face, etc.).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a small arch built across the interior angle of two walls (usually to support a spire)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: arch

Narrower terms: trumpet arch

4

verb

Meaning 4

cross one's eyes as if in strabismus

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The children squinted so as to scare each other

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: squint

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: grimace, make a face, pull a face

5

verb

Meaning 5

draw back, as with fear or pain

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: flinch, funk, cringe, shrink, wince, recoil, quail

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: move

Narrower terms: shrink back, retract

6

verb

Meaning 6

crouch down

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: crouch, stoop, bend, bow

History

Etymology

Alteration of earlier scunch (“back part of the side of an opening”), short for scuncheon.

Uncertain. Probably blend of squint + pinch. Compare squink-eyed, variant of squint-eyed, so perhaps it is at least partly an altered form of squint.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: trompa — structure between walls to transition to circular
  • French: trompe — structure between walls to transition to circular
  • German: Trompe — structure between walls to transition to circular
  • Persian: سکنج (sekonj) — structure between walls to transition to circular
  • Persian: گوشه (guše) — structure between walls to transition to circular
  • Persian: گوشواره (gušvâre) — structure between walls to transition to circular
  • Persian: فیلگوش (filguš) — structure between walls to transition to circular
  • Russian: тромп (tromp) — structure between walls to transition to circular
  • Spanish: trompa — structure between walls to transition to circular
  • Swedish: trompe — structure between walls to transition to circular