What is to stoop by bending the knees; to crouch; to squat; hence, to quail; to sink through fear. Our dame sits cowering o'er a kitchen fire. Dryden. Like falcons, cowering on the nest. Goldsmith called?

cower — To stoop by bending the knees; to crouch; to squat; hence, to quail; to sink through fear. Our dame sits cowering o'er a kitchen fire. Dryden. Like falcons, cowering on the nest. Goldsmith. (Webster's 1913.)