Flinch vs. Startle

Flinchnoun

A reflexive jerking away.

‘My eye doctor hates the flinch I have every time he tries to get near my eyes.’;

Startleverb

(intransitive) To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.

‘a horse that startles easily’;

Flinchnoun

(croquet) The slipping of the foot from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.

Startleverb

(transitive) To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise.

Flinchverb

(intransitive) To make a sudden, involuntary movement in response to a (usually negative) stimulus; to cringe.

Startleverb

To deter; to cause to deviate.

Flinchverb

To dodge (a question), to avoid an unpleasant task or duty

Startlenoun

A sudden motion or shock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger.

Flinchverb

(croquet) To let the foot slip from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.

Startleverb

To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.

‘Why shrinks the soulBack on herself, and startles at destruction?’;

Flinchverb

To withdraw from any suffering or undertaking, from pain or danger; to fail in doing or perserving; to show signs of yielding or of suffering; to shrink; to wince; as, one of the parties flinched from the combat.

‘A child, by a constant course of kindness, may be accustomed to bear very rough usage without flinching or complaining.’;

Startleverb

To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise.

‘The supposition, at least, that angels do sometimes assume bodies need not startle us.’;

Flinchverb

To let the foot slip from a ball, when attempting to give a tight croquet.

Startleverb

To deter; to cause to deviate.

Flinchnoun

The act of flinching.

Startlenoun

A sudden motion or shock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger.

‘After having recovered from my first startle, I was very well pleased with the accident.’;

Flinchnoun

a reflex response to sudden pain

Startlenoun

a sudden involuntary movement;

‘he awoke with a start’;

Flinchverb

draw back, as with fear or pain;

‘she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf’;

Startleverb

to stimulate to action ;

‘..startled him awake’; ‘galvanized into action’;

Startleverb

move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm;

‘She startled when I walked into the room’;