winced at the movie's graphic depiction of combat injuries
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Perhaps tearing originally grew out of a physiological reflex that restored moisture to the eyes and nasal passages after they had been dried out by the pressure of wincing or the hyperventilation of arousal.—Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025 Democrats – and some Republicans – are wincing at the idea that millions of people soon may not be able to afford health insurance.—Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 23 Sep. 2025 Or trying to wince like Dirk Bogarde at my Mastercard.—Randall Mann, The New York Review of Books, 18 Sep. 2025 That’s our job, to bring up the uncomfortable and talk about the topics people wince at.—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 10 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for wince
Word History
Etymology
Middle English wynsen to kick out, start, from Anglo-French *wincer, *guincer to shift direction, dodge, by-form of guenchir, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German wenken, wankōn to totter — more at wench
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