Both Uses of
cower
in
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- The priest gazed at her with the eye of a hawk which has long been soaring in a circle from the heights of heaven over a poor lark cowering in the wheat, and has long been silently contracting the formidable circles of his flight, and has suddenly swooped down upon his prey like a flash of lightning, and holds it panting in his talons.†
Chpt 2.8.4cowering = showing fear by positioning the body as though afraid of being hit
- Then she ran in terror to cower in her cell, asking of her pallet some less terrible nightmare.†
Chpt 2.11.1 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(cower) show fear by positioning the body as though afraid of being hit
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In classic literature, cower may also mean to crouch or curl up without any hint of fear.