squinch - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Squinch

Alteration of earlier scunch (“back part of the side of an opening”),[1] short for scuncheon.[2][3]

squinch (plural squinches)

  1. (architecture) A structure constructed between two adjacent walls to aid in the transition from a polygonal to a circular structure, as when a dome is constructed on top of a square room.

Uncertain.[3] Probably blend of squint +‎ pinch.[2][1] Compare squink-eyed, variant of squint-eyed, so perhaps it is at least partly an altered form of squint.[4]

squinch (third-person singular simple present squinches, present participle squinching, simple past and past participle squinched)

  1. (transitive) To scrunch up (one's face, etc.).
    • 2008 March 15, Gail Collins, “George Speaks, Badly”, in New York Times‎[1]:
      The president squinched his face and bit his lip and seemed too antsy to stand still.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “squinch”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “squinch”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 “squinch”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  4. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “squinch”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.