身體縮的那一下
這一支就是核心畫面本身，一次當動作看，一次當東西看。
verb · B2
To move your face or body back or away for a moment, without meaning to, because something hurts you, frightens you or upsets you.
（因痛或怕）縮了一下
核心畫面
You can think of flinch as one quick bend away from something. A hand comes near a burn, a sound cracks behind you, and before any decision is made the shoulder pulls back, the eyes close, the head turns half an inch. Two things make the picture: it is small, and it is not chosen. Because nobody decides to do it, other people read a flinch as the truth leaking out. From that one movement the word goes inward, to the feeling that pulls back when nothing on the outside moves, and then turns into a test of character: the person who does not flinch is the one who stayed where most people would have bent.
flinch 可以想成往旁邊彎的那一下。手伸向燙傷的地方，背後突然一聲響，還來不及決定，肩膀就先收了、眼睛先閉了、頭…更多收起
flinch 可以想成往旁邊彎的那一下。手伸向燙傷的地方，背後突然一聲響，還來不及決定，肩膀就先收了、眼睛先閉了、頭偏開了一點點。這個畫面有兩個重點：動作很小，而且不是你選的。也正因為沒有人會刻意去做，別人會把那一下當成真心話漏了出來。從這一下動作，這個字往內走，變成外表沒動、心裡卻縮了一下；再往外走，就成了一種考驗：沒有 flinch 的人，就是換作別人會彎、他卻沒彎的那一個。From the word’s history
The source traces flinch to Middle French flenchir, meaning to bend, from a Germanic root meaning to bend or twist, attested in English since the 16th century. That bending is still the shape of the modern movement.
來源記載 flinch 來自中古法文 flenchir，意思是「彎」，再往上接到表示「彎、扭」的日耳曼語詞根，十六世紀起見於英文。今天那一下退縮的形狀，正好還是「彎一下」。
Wiktionary (kaikki extract, source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:722186996), etymology 1: from Middle French flenchir (to bend), from Frankish *hlankijan, Proto-Germanic *hlankijaną (to bend, twist, flex).
Three branches
心裡縮的那一下
外表沒動，往後縮的是感覺；同一個動作搬進心裡。
verb · C1
To feel a sudden sharp sense of embarrassment, shame or discomfort at something you hear, read or remember.
（心裡）一縮、覺得難受
沒有縮＝正面承擔
把那一下退縮拿來當標準：一般人會彎，這個人沒彎，所以是稱讚。
verb · C1
If someone does not flinch from something, they are willing to do it or face it even though it is difficult or unpleasant.
不迴避、硬著頭皮去面對