Meaning & use
cower
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To crouch or draw back with your body low and tense because you are afraid of being hurt.
Grammar: No object; often followed by a place or before, in, behind: cower behind a door.
Patterns
- cower in a corner
- cower before someone
- cower behind something
The puppy cowered under the table during the thunderstorm.
Villagers cowered in their cellars as the shelling went on.
She cowered behind her mother when the stranger spoke to her.
verbintransitivefigurativedisapproving
To show fear of someone with power and give in to them rather than stand up to them.
Grammar: No object; often followed by before or to, usually about people in power: cower before authority.
Patterns
- cower before someone
- cower to someone
The whole department cowered before the angry director.
We refuse to cower in the face of threats.
Word forms
| third person singular | cowers |
|---|---|
| past tense | cowered |
| -ing form | cowering |
Common combinations
- cower in fear
- The villagers cowered in fear as the soldiers passed.
- cower in a corner
- The dog cowered in a corner after the loud bang.
- cower before authority
- He refused to cower before authority.
- cower behind
- The child cowered behind the sofa.
- cower under
- They cowered under the table until the storm passed.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cringe
- Cringe can describe a small shrinking movement, even from embarrassment, whereas cower means crouching in real fear.
- flinch
- Flinch is a quick, brief movement away from pain or surprise, while cower is a longer posture.
- quail
- Quail is more literary and stresses losing courage, but does not require crouching down.
- shrink back
- Shrink back is an everyday phrase with a weaker feeling of terror than cower.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: cower or coward?
cower vs coward
A coward is a person lacking courage, while cower is the physical action of shrinking in fear.
Practice
The kitten ___ under the bed whenever the vacuum cleaner was switched on.
Choose one answer.
Cowered means crouched in fear. Coveted means wanted badly, scowled means frowned angrily, and cultured is not a verb of movement.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cower”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.