squinch

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

squinch
    n 1: a small arch built across the interior angle of two walls
         (usually to support a spire)
    v 1: crouch down
    2: draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they
       showed the slaughtering of the calf" [syn: {flinch},
       {squinch}, {funk}, {cringe}, {shrink}, {wince}, {recoil},
       {quail}]
    3: cross one's eyes as if in strabismus; "The children squinted
       so as to scare each other" [syn: {squint}, {squinch}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Squinch \Squinch\ (skw[i^]nch), n. [Corrupted fr. sconce.]
   (Arch.)
   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}.
   [1913 Webster]