Definition of "coward"

coward

/ˈkaʊəd/

noun
plural cowards
1. A person who lacks courage.
  Quotations
  Cowards dye many times before their deaths, / The valiant neuer taſte of death but once: […]
  c. 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Ivlivs Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, act II, scene ii, page 117, column 1
  He tortured himself to find out how he could make his declaration to her, and always halting between the fear of displeasing her and the shame of being such a coward, he wept with discouragement and desire. Then he took energetic resolutions, wrote letters that he tore up, put it off to times that he again deferred.
  1856: Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part II Chapter IV, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
adjective
comparative more coward, superlative most coward
1. Cowardly.
  Quotations
  It is a coward and servile humour, for a man to disguise and hide himselfe under a maske, and not dare to shew himselfe as he is.
  1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […]
  He rais’d the house with loud and coward cries.
  c. 1605, William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act II, Scene 4
  Invading Fears repel my Coward Joy;And Ills foreseen the pleasant Bliss destroy.
  1709, Matthew Prior, “Celia to Damon”, in Poems on Several Occasions‎, 2nd edition, London: Jacob Tonson, page 89
2. (heraldry, of a lion) Borne in the escutcheon with his tail doubled between his legs.
verb
third-person singular simple present cowards, present participle cowarding, simple past and past participle cowarded
1. (transitive, obsolete) To intimidate.
  Quotations
  The first he coped with was their captain, whom / His sword sent headless to seek out a tomb. / This cowarded the valour of the rest, […]
  1820, John Chalkhill, Thealma and Clearchus

Definition of "coward"

coward

noun

Quotations

adjective

Quotations

verb

Quotations