cower

Meanings

Verb

crouch or curl up
show submission or fear
To crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear.
To crouch in general.
To cause to cower; to frighten into submission.
To be a coward; to hide away or refuse to face opposition due to fear.
To cherish with care.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English couren, cowre, from Middle Low German kûren (“to lie in wait; linger”) or from North Germanic (Icelandic kúra (“to doze”)); according to Pokorny, all are ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to curve, bend”), see also Proto-Germanic *kuddô (“shell, pod”).
Cognate with German kauern (“to squat”), Dutch koeren (“to keep watch (in a cowered position)”), Serbo-Croatian kutriti (“to lie in a bent position”), Swedish kura (“huddle, cower”). Unrelated to coward, which is of Latin origin.

Synonyms

crawl, creep, cringe, fawn, grovel, huddle

Scrabble Score: 10

cower is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
cower is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
cower is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 11

cower is a valid Words With Friends word