WordNet
v. anticipate with dread or anxiety [syn: apprehend]
Usage examples of "quail at".
She picked up the black dress she'd slept in and started to make her way back to camp when she spied a quail at the edge of the clearing.
Not one person in the crowd seemed to quail at the thought that it might.
He casually tossed a dead quail at my feet, then slunk off into the [s^d^wing] shadows to gnaw at a second, larger bird.
His own folk quail at him, and they would slay themselves at his bidding.
He casu- ^^ tossed a dead quail at my feet, then slunk off into the s^d^wing shadows to gnaw at a second, larger bird.
Mind, I have seen boars of all sizes, and I also have seen experienced spearmen quail at the sight of a charging tusker.
Nevertheless, as it was all in line of duty and one must never quail at that, I took the second elevator to the 86th floor observatory.
They were genuinely pleased to welcome travelers, especially hunters who arrived with a brace of quail at the belt or a string of fat fish to offer to the evening meal.