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/ˈkaʊɚ/ · verb
(intransitive) To crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear..
He'd be useless in war. He'd just cower in his bunker until the enemy came in and shot him, or until the war was over.
Our dame sits cowering o'er a kitchen fire.
Carrot ran past him to get to the barrel first, and peered down at the cowering Catweazle. “No rats, Dad,” he said. “What's that terrible pong, then?” said Mr Bennett, sniffing.
Some sterner virtues o’er the mountain’s breast May sit, like falcons, cowering on the nest
The mother bird had mov’d not, But cowering o’er her nestlings, Sate confident and fearless, And watch’d the wonted guest.
This done, their doubts will vanish, and they will stand confronted by an object lesson which must have the effect either to arouse them to a determination to banish despotism from the land, or cower them into submission and servitude.
My spirit will cower them and make them wish they had never risen up against me.
A vicious Mafia threat intended to cower him—but the chief doesn't cower.
Use cower when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Cower means (intransitive) To crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear..
Common synonyms include creep, fawn, cringe, grovel.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
He'd be useless in war. He'd just cower in his bunker until the enemy came in and shot him, or until the war was over.
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