ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the fetal position,

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ideal for all forms of emotional breakdown.

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The kicked dog cowered in the corner.

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And here are the potential answers. [ dog barks ]

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To cower means to curl up in fear or shame.

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You might cower if your girlfriend's mom

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comes home a little too soon.

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So let's start with B - growled. Well, a growl

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[ growls ] is, well, the noise the dog is gonna make

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at the window until you stop trying to hide from your girlfriend's mom

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like a hormonal Spiderman.

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Definitely not the same as cowering.

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Next up is C - slept.

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Cowering and sleeping do both involve curling up

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into a little ball, but, for most people, a night of sleep

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isn't filled with fear or shame.

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So then there's D - died.

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Well, since we have shame, fear, and now death running through our minds,

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let's go ahead and cross this one off ASAP

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and move on to greener pastures.

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Curling up and no longer living are definitely different things.

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Which leaves us with just A - crouched.

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When you crouch, you bend low to the ground and make yourself small.

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Same thing as curling up in a ball,

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which makes crouch and cower synonyms.

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So the correct answer is A - crouched.

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And, remember, when it comes to cowering,

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sometimes you've got no one to blame but yourself.

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[ sobbing ]

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