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cower

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cower¹

  • /ˈkaʊɚ/ US
  • /ˈkaʊə/ UK

Rhymes with -aʊ.ə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Middle English couren, cowre, from Middle Low German kûren (“to lie in wait; linger”) or from North Germanic (Icelandic kúra (“to doze”)); according to Pokorny, all are ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to curve, bend”), see also Proto-Germanic *kuddô (“shell, pod”).

Cognate with German kauern (“to squat”), Dutch koeren (“to keep watch (in a cowered position)”), Serbo-Croatian kutriti (“to lie in a bent position”), Swedish kura (“huddle, cower”). Unrelated to coward, which is of Latin origin.

verb cowers · cowering · cowered

  1. intransitive To crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear. He'd be useless in war. He'd just cower in his bunker until the enemy came in and shot him, or until the war was over.
  2. archaic, intransitive To crouch in general. Some sterner virtues o’er the mountain’s breast May sit, like falcons, cowering on the nest
  3. transitive To cause to cower; to frighten into submission. 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, or cower them into submission and servitude.
  4. figuratively, intransitive To be a coward; to hide away or refuse to face opposition due to fear.

cower²

  • /ˈkaʊɚ/ US
  • /ˈkaʊə/ UK

Rhymes with -aʊ.ə(ɹ)

verb cowers · cowering · cowered

  1. obsolete, transitive To cherish with care.

Translations

Every language

verb to crouch in fear

Españolacobardarse, amilanarse
日本語踞る uzukumaru, 畏怖する ifu suru
中文抖縮 /抖缩 dǒusuō, 退縮 /退缩 tuìsuō
Portuguêsencolher
Françaisse recroqueviller, se tapir
Deutschkauern, ängstlich hocken
Русскийсъёживаться sʺjóživatʹsja, съёжиться sʺjóžitʹsja, сжима́ться sžimátʹsja, сжа́ться sžátʹsja, забива́ться zabivátʹsja, заби́ться zabítʹsja

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MLA

"cower." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cower. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

cower. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cower

Chicago

"cower." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cower.

BibTeX
@misc{cower_2026,
  title = {cower},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cower},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}