To cower means to crouch down or shrink back in fear, making yourself smaller to try to avoid danger or harm. When a dog cowers during a thunderstorm, it huddles low with its ears back and tail tucked. When someone cowers in a corner during a scary movie scene, they pull back and make themselves small, as if that might protect them from what frightens them.

The word captures both the physical action of hunching down and the feeling of fear or intimidation behind it. You might see a character in a story cowering before a dragon, pressing themselves against a wall with their arms over their head. A student might cower when a bully approaches, drawing back and trying to seem invisible.

Cowering is different from simply being afraid. It's a specific response where fear makes you fold in on yourself, trying to become a smaller target. The word often appears in stories about bravery because heroes are the ones who stand tall when others might cower. When someone refuses to cower, they're facing their fear even though they want to back away.