different between nurture vs flinch

English

Alternative forms

• nouriture (obsolete)
• nutriture (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English norture, noriture, from Old French norriture, norreture, from Late Latin nutritura (“nourishment”), from Latin nutrire (“to nourish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n???.t???/
• Rhymes: -??(?)t??(?)

Noun

nurture (countable and uncountable, plural nurtures)

1. The act of nourishing or nursing; tender care

   Synonyms: upbringing, raising, education, training

2. That which nourishes; food; diet.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, A Veue of the Present State of Ireland

     Other great houses there be of the English in Ireland, which, through licentious conversing with the Irish, or marrying, or fostering with them or lack of meet nurture, or other such unhappy occasions, have degenerated from their ancient dignities and are now grown as Irish as O'Hanlon's breech, as the proverb there is.

3. The environmental influences that contribute to the development of an individual (as opposed to "nature").
   • 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes

     A man neither by nature nor by nurture wise.

Translations

Verb

nurture (third-person singular simple present nurtures, present participle nurturing, simple past and past participle nurtured)

1. To nourish or nurse.
2. (figuratively, by extension) To encourage, especially the growth or development of something.
   • 2009, UNESCO, The United Nations World Water Development Report – N° 3 - 2009 – Freshwater and International Law (the Interplay between Universal, Regional and Basin Perspectives), page 10, ?ISBN

     The relationships between universal norms and specific norms nurture the development of international law.

Synonyms

• (figuratively, to encourage): See Thesaurus:nurture

Related terms

• nourish
• nourishment
• nurse
• nursery
• nurturance
• nutrient
• nutriment
• nutrition
• nutritional
• nutritious
• nutritive

Translations

Further reading

• nurture in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• nurture in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• U-turner, untruer

Middle English

Noun

nurture

1. Alternative form of norture

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fl?nt?/
• Rhymes: -?nt?

Etymology 1

From Middle French flenchir (“to bend”), of Germanic origin. Compare Middle High German lenken (“to bend”). Attested in English since the 16th century.

Noun

flinch (plural flinches)

1. A reflexive jerking away.

   My eye doctor hates the flinch I have every time he tries to get near my eyes.

2. (croquet) The slipping of the foot from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.

Translations

See also

• (reflexive jerking away): cringe

Verb

flinch (third-person singular simple present flinches, present participle flinching, simple past and past participle flinched)

1. (intransitive) To make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus; to cringe.
   • 1693 John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education:

     A child, by a constant course of kindness, may be accustomed to bear very rough usage without flinching or complaining.

2. To dodge (a question), to avoid an unpleasant task or duty
3. (croquet) To let the foot slip from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.

Translations

References

• “flinch” in the Collins English Dictionary
• “flinch”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).

Etymology 2

Verb

flinch (third-person singular simple present flinches, present participle flinching, simple past and past participle flinched)

1. Alternative form of flense

References

• “flinch” in the Collins English Dictionary