Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Coward

Cow′ard (kou′?rd), a. [OF. couard, coard, coart, n. and adj., F. couard, fr. OF. coe, coue, tail, F. queue (fr. L. coda, a form of cauda tail) + -ard; orig., short-tailed, as an epithet of the hare, or perh., turning tail, like a scared dog. Cf. Cue, Queue, Caudal.] 1. (Her.) Borne in the escutcheon with his tail doubled between his legs; — said of a lion.

2. Destitute of courage; timid; cowardly.

Fie, coward woman, and soft-hearted wretch. Shak.

3. Belonging to a coward; proceeding from, or expressive of, base fear or timidity.

He raised the house with loud and coward cries. Shak.

Invading fears repel my coward joy. Proir.

Cow′ard, n. A person who lacks courage; a timid or pusillanimous person; a poltroon.

A fool is nauseous, but a coward worse. Dryden.

Syn. — Craven; poltroon; dastard.

Cow′ard, v. t. To make timorous; to frighten. [Obs.]

That which cowardeth a man's heart. Foxe.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.