different between pucker vs wince

English

Etymology

Probable alteration of poke (verb, or the noun meaning "a small bag").

Verb

pucker (third-person singular simple present puckers, present participle puckering, simple past and past participle puckered)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To pinch or wrinkle; to squeeze inwardly, to dimple or fold.
   • 1893, Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Crooked Man".

     He had a very dark, fearsome face, and a gleam in his eyes that comes back to me in my dreams. His hair and whiskers were shot with gray, and his face was all crinkled and puckered like a withered apple.

   • 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 13.

     The conduct of the white strangers it was that caused him the greatest perturbation. He puckered his brows into a frown of deep thought.

Derived terms

• pucker up

Translations

Noun

pucker (plural puckers)

1. A fold or wrinkle.
   • 1921, Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow, Chapter 3.

     The mouth was compressed, and on either side of it two tiny wrinkles had formed themselves in her cheeks. An infinity of slightly malicious amusement lurked in those little folds, in the puckers about the half-closed eyes, in the eyes themselves, bright and laughing between the narrowed lids.

2. (colloquial) A state of perplexity or anxiety; confusion; bother; agitation.
   • 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd.

     What a pucker everything is in!" said Bathsheba, discontentedly when the child had gone. "Get away, Maryann, or go on with your scrubbing, or do something! You ought to be married by this time, and not here troubling me!"

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English wincen, winchen, from Anglo-Norman *wenchir, Old Northern French *wenchier (compare Old French guenchir), from Frankish *wenkjan, from Proto-Germanic *wankjan. See also German winken.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /w?ns/
• Rhymes: -?ns

Noun

wince (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.

Translations

Verb

wince (third-person singular simple present winces, present participle wincing, simple past and past participle winced)

1. (intransitive) To flinch as if in pain or distress.
2. (transitive) To wash (cloth), dip it in dye, etc., with the use of a wince.
3. To kick or flounce when unsteady or impatient.

Translations

See also

• cringe