encoger
shrink.
The 'false hit' problem still arises, but becomes less likely as the 'neighborhood' of the two words shrinks.
encoger el corazón
heart + leap to + Posesivo + mouth
heart + skip a beat
heart + miss a beat
His heart leapt to his mouth, for this was none other than the great Brigham Young himself.
There's nothing romantic about your heart skipping a beat, whatever the poet might say - all hearts flutter from time to time.
Her smile still makes many a heart miss a beat.
encogerse
flinch
cringe
Garschine flinched as if he had been hit.
That Dennis! When I think of him, I... well ... to put it frankly, cringe.
encogerse de hombros
shrug + Posesivo + shoulders
shrug
'That's about it', he shrugged his shoulders indifferently, as if to say 'So what!'.
'I'm not much to trust any politician,' he shrugs, but 'I just don't believe in changing horses in midstream' = Dijo encogiéndose de hombros: "No soy mucho de confiar en ningún político, pero simplemente no creo en los cambios de opinión a mitad de camino".
encogerse de miedo [Intentar pasar desapercibido por temor o por falta de personalidad]
cower
cringe
cringe with + fear
The stereotype of a librarian i a 'fussy old woman of either sex, myopic and repressed, brandishing or perhaps cowering behind a date-stamp and surrounded by an array of notices which forbid virtually every human activity'.
That Dennis! When I think of him, I... well ... to put it frankly, cringe.
With his eerie green eyes and ferocious and deadly fangs and claws you just cringe with fear every time the big cat comes on the screen.
encogerse de terror [Intentar pasar desapercibido por temor o por falta de personalidad]
cringe
cower
cringe with + fear
That Dennis! When I think of him, I... well ... to put it frankly, cringe.
The stereotype of a librarian i a 'fussy old woman of either sex, myopic and repressed, brandishing or perhaps cowering behind a date-stamp and surrounded by an array of notices which forbid virtually every human activity'.
With his eerie green eyes and ferocious and deadly fangs and claws you just cringe with fear every time the big cat comes on the screen.