Definition of "wince"

wince

/wɪns/

noun
plural winces
1. A sudden movement or gesture of shrinking away.
2. A reel used in dyeing, steeping, or washing cloth; a winch. It is placed over the division wall between two wince pits so as to allow the cloth to descend into either compartment at will.
verb
third-person singular simple present winces, present participle wincing, simple past and past participle winced
1. (intransitive) To flinch as if in pain or distress.
  Quotations
  I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word.
  c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene i]
  “Perhaps it is because I have been excommunicated. It's absurd, but I feel like the Jackdaw of Rheims.” ¶ She winced and bowed her head. Each time that he spoke flippantly of the Church he caused her pain.
  1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company
  The two Gordon setters came obediently to heel. Sir Oswald Feiling winced as he turned to go home. He had felt a warning twinge of lumbago.
  1935, Francis Beeding, “7/2”, in The Norwich Victims‎
2. (transitive) To wash (cloth), dip it in dye, etc., with the use of a wince.
3. To kick or flounce when unsteady or impatient.