From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcowercow‧er /ˈkaʊə $ -ər/ verb [intransitive] FRIGHTENEDto bend low and move back because you are frightenedcower back/against/under etc He cowered against the wall.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
cower• While the menace may be unstoppable, infection-control doctors are not cowering helplessly.• Students cowered in classrooms as the gun shots rang out.• Miriam cowered in terror, her hand up to her throat.• They were cowering in the cellars, trapped by the shelling.• Her fragile sanity crept away from the edge to cower inside the fortress of her orders.• The dailies would clock him every now and then, leaving his flat and cowering under a flash of camera light.cower back/against/under etc• The dailies would clock him every now and then, leaving his flat and cowering under a flash of camera light.• There was the bed, of course, he could be cowering under it, or maybe in the spacious built-in wardrobe.• These were the days of ducking and cowering under our desks to survive a direct hit from an atomic bomb.• The adult response of reason is swept away to reveal the small child cowering under parental wrath.• The roar ceased, leaving them cowering against tattered wallpaper.• Weathered buildings, even the tall air-traffic-control tower, cowered under their own shadows.• Spoiled gardens, dusty flowers, small animals cowering under wilting leaves.• If you see the audience cowering back, you are too loud.Origin cower (1200-1300) Middle Low German kuren “to lie hidden” 