blench /blɛnt͡ʃ/verb 7noun 2forms 3 verb7 •To shrink; start back; give way; flinch; turn aside or fly off.Blench not at thy chosen lot. — 1870 •To quail. •To draw back from; shrink; avoid; elude; deny, as from fear.Yesterday the government proclaimed no turning back, but the lords representing the likes of the disability charity Scope or Macmillan Cancer Support should make them blench. — 2012 •To fly off; to turn aside.Though sometimes you do blench from this to that. — 1603 •To hinder; obstruct; disconcert; foil. •To deceive; cheat. •(no longer used) To blanch.The seasons are come to a stagnant stop, the trees blench and wither, the wagons role in the mica ruts with slithering harplike thuds. — 1934 noun2 •A sidelong glance.These blenches gave my heart another youth. — 1609 •A deceit; a trick. formsblenched · blenching · blenches
