Flinch

Noun

 * 1) A reflexive jerking away.
 * My eye doctor hates the flinch I have every time he tries to get near my eyes.

Verb

 * 1) To make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus.

Synonyms for Flinch
shrink, wince, falter, recoil, cringe, blench, retreat, withdraw, run, cower.

Antonyms for Flinch
stand, face, confront, sustain, hold out.

Thesaurus
avoid, avoidance, be startled, blanch, blench, blink, boggle, cower, cringe, demur, dodge, draw back, draw in, duck, elude, escape, eschew, evade, evasion, fade, fall back, fallback, falter, fight shy of, funk, hang back, hang off, have qualms, hesitate, hold off, jib, jump, jump a mile, make bones about, pause, pull back, pull in, pull out, pullback, pullout, quail, recede, recoil, reel back, retire, retract, retreat, scruple, sheer off, shrink, shrink back, shrink from, shun, shy, shy at, sidestep, sidestepping, squinch, start, start aside, start back, startle, stick at, stickle, strain, swerve, turn aside, waver, weasel, weasel out, wince, withdraw

Etymology
Compare Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌷𐌰𐌽:, Icelandic fela:

Noun

 * Finnish:

Verb

 * Finnish: ,
 * French:
 * Italian:


 * Russian:, содрогнуться
 * Slovene:
 * Spanish: estremecerse, reaccionar