wince

present singular third person winces · participle present wincing · participle past winced · past winced

1. intransitiveTo flinch as if in pain or distress.

   I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word.

   c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

   2 more examples

   “Perhaps it is because I have been excommunicated. It's absurd, but I feel like the Jackdaw of Rheims.” ¶ She winced and bowed her head. Each time that he spoke flippantly of the Church he caused her pain.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   The two Gordon setters came obediently to heel. Sir Oswald Feiling winced as he turned to go home. He had felt a warning twinge of lumbago.

   1935, Francis Beeding, “7/2”, in The Norwich Victims

2. transitiveTo wash (cloth), dip it in dye, etc., with the use of a wince.
3. To kick or flounce when unsteady or impatient.

   A horse winces.

plural winces

1. A sudden movement or gesture of shrinking away.
2. A reel used in dyeing, steeping, or washing cloth; a winch. It is placed over the division wall between two wince pits so as to allow the cloth to descend into either compartment at will.

plural Winces

1. A surname.