SQUINCH

squinch

(noun) a small arch built across the interior angle of two walls (usually to support a spire)

squint, squinch

(verb) cross one’s eyes as if in strabismus; “The children squinted so as to scare each other”

flinch, squinch, funk, cringe, shrink, wince, recoil, quail

(verb) draw back, as with fear or pain; “she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf”

squinch

(verb) crouch down

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Noun

squinch (plural squinches)

(architecture) A structure constructed between two adjacent walls to aid in the transition from a polygonal to a circular structure, as when a dome is constructed on top of a square room.

Verb

squinch (third-person singular simple present squinches, present participle squinching, simple past and past participle squinched)

(transitive) To scrunch up (one's face, etc.).

Source: Wiktionary

Squinch, n. Etym: [Corrupted fr. sconce.] (Arch.)

Definition: A small arch thrown across the corner of a square room to support a superimposed mass, as where an octagonal spire or drum rests upon a square tower; -- called also sconce, and sconcheon.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition