God . . . cowardizeth . . . insolent spirits.
Bp. Hall.
Cow"ard*li*ness (-l?-n?s), n. Cowardice.
Cow"ard*ly, a. 1. Wanting courage; basely or weakly timid or fearful; pusillanimous; spiritless.
The cowardly rascals that ran from the battle.
Shak.
2. Proceeding from fear of danger or other consequences; befitting a coward; dastardly; base; as, cowardly malignity. Macaulay.
The cowardly rashness of those who dare not look danger in the face.
Burke.
Syn. -- Timid; fearful; timorous; dastardly; pusillanimous; recreant; craven; faint-hearted; chicken-hearted; white-livered.
Cow"ard*ly, adv. In the manner of a coward. Spenser.
Cow"ard*ship, n. Cowardice. [Obs.] Shak.
Cow"bane` (kou"bān`), n. (Bot.) A poisonous umbelliferous plant; in England, the Cicuta virosa; in the United States, the Cicuta maculata and the Archemora rigida. See Water hemlock.
Cow"ber`ry (-b&ebreve;r`r&ybreve;), n.; pl. Cowberries (- r&ibreve;z). (Bot.) A species of Vaccinium (V. Vitis-idŠa), which bears acid red berries which are sometimes used in cookery; -- locally called mountain cranberry.
Cow"bird` (-b&etilde;rd`), n. (Zo÷l.) The cow blackbird (Molothrus ater), an American starling. Like the European cuckoo, it builds no nest, but lays its eggs in the nests of other birds; -- so called because frequently associated with cattle.
Cow"blakes` (-blāks`), n. pl. Dried cow dung used as fuel.[Prov. Eng.] Simmonds.
Cow"boy` (-boi`), n. 1. A cattle herder; a drover; specifically, one of an adventurous class of herders and drovers on the plains of the Western and Southwestern United States.
2. One of the marauders who, in the Revolutionary War infested the neutral ground between the American and British lines, and committed depredations on the Americans.
Cow"catch`er (-k?ch`?r), n. A strong inclined frame, usually of wrought-iron bars, in front of a locomotive engine, for catching or throwing off obstructions on a railway, as cattle; the pilot. [U.S.]
Cow"die (kou"d&ybreve;), n. (Bot.) See Kauri.
Cow"er (kou"&etilde;r), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Cowered (kou"&etilde;rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Cowering.] [Cf. Icel. kera to doze, liequiet, Sw. kura, Dan. kure, G. kauern to cower, W. cwrian.] To stoop by bending the knees; to crouch; to squat; hence, to quail; to sink through fear.
Our dame sits cowering o'er a kitchen fire.
Dryden.
Like falcons, cowering on the nest.
Goldsmith.