squinch

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to screw up the eyes or face, or an arch across an interior corner

   He squinched his eyes against the sudden glare of the sun.

As 'screw up the face', an alteration of 'squint' (perhaps blended with 'pinch'). As the architectural term for a corner arch, an altered form of 'scunch' or 'sconce', ultimately from Old French 'esconse' (a hiding place, lantern).

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