[syn: squint, squinch]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Squinch \Squinch\ (skw[i^]nch), n. [Corrupted fr. sconce.]
(Arch.)
A small arch thrown across the corner of a square room to
support a superimposed mass, as where an octagonal spire or
drum rests upon a square tower; -- called also sconce, and
sconcheon.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
squinch
n 1: a small arch built across the interior angle of two walls
(usually to support a spire)
v 1: crouch down
2: draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they
showed the slaughtering of the calf" [syn: flinch,
squinch, funk, cringe, shrink, wince, recoil,
quail]
3: cross one's eyes as if in strabismus; "The children squinted
so as to scare each other" [syn: squint, squinch]