literaryFRIGHTENED to be afraid and show it by shaking a little bit or moving back slightly 害怕;畏缩SYN shrink
quail at
She quailed visibly at the sight of the prison walls.
看到监狱的围墙,她显然胆怯了。
Examples from the Corpus
quail• For the first time I quailed...• I felt like Frankenstein, quailing before the monster I had created.• It would seem that even senior officers were quailing, but go they did.• Though he quailed inwardly, he managed not to flinch.• Even now there were times when Valerie quailed, when she felt crushed.
Originquail1
(1300-1400)Old Frenchquaille, from Medieval Latinquaccula
quail2
(1400-1500)quail“to curdle”((15-19 centuries)), from Latincoagulare; → COAGULATE