fight shy - Wordage.info - Free Thesaurus Tool for Word Discovery - Expanded Thesaurus, Reverse Dictionary Lookup

bullfight collapse: a Spanish or Portuguese or Latin American spectacle; a matador baits and (usually) kills a bull in an arena before many spectators

flinch collapse: draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf"

wince collapse: a reflex response to sudden pain; the facial expression of sudden pain; make a face indicating disgust or dislike; "She winced when she heard his pompous speech"

scrimmage collapse: (American football) practice play between a football team's squads; practice playing (a sport)

tug-of-war collapse: any hard struggle between equally matched groups; a contest in which teams pull of opposite ends of a rope; the team dragged across a central line loses

hesitate collapse: pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness; "Authorities hesitate to quote exact figures"; interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing; "The speaker paused"

quail collapse: small gallinaceous game birds; flesh of quail; suitable for roasting or broiling if young; otherwise must be braised

waver collapse: the act of moving back and forth; someone who communicates by waving; sway to and fro

avoid collapse: stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something; "Her former friends now avoid her"; refrain from doing something; "She refrains from calling her therapist too often"; "He should avoid publishing his wife's memories"

startle collapse: a sudden involuntary movement; "he awoke with a start"; to stimulate to action ; "..startled him awake"; "galvanized into action"; move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm; "She startled when I walked into the room"

demur collapse: (law) a formal objection to an opponent's pleadings; take exception to; "he demurred at my suggestion to work on Saturday"; enter a demurrer

pull back collapse: pull back the sling of (a bow); "The archers were drawing their bows"; move to a rearward position; pull towards the back; "Pull back your arms!"

stampede collapse: a headlong rush of people on a common impulse; "when he shouted `fire' there was a stampede to the exits"; a wild headlong rush of frightened animals (horses or cattle); run away in a stampede; cause to run in panic; "Thunderbolts can stampede animals"; act, usually en masse, hurriedly or on an impulse; "Companies will now stampede to release their latest software"; cause a group or mass of people to act on an impulse or hurriedly and impulsively; "The tavern owners stampeded us into overeating"