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Glite Dictionary
to pucker in surprise

to pucker in surprise

6.5
To pull your lips together because you are surprised
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : fruncir los labios
  • She puckered in surprise when she saw the gift!

Examples

  • She couldn't help but pucker in surprise when she heard the unexpected news.

  • The children puckered in surprise at the sour taste of the lemonade.

  • He puckered in surprise when the confetti suddenly burst from the box.

  • Did you see him pucker in surprise?

  • He puckered in surprise when the confetti suddenly burst from the box.

  • She couldn't help but pucker in surprise when she heard the unexpected news.

  • The children puckered in surprise at the sour taste of the lemonade.

Antonyms

to relax
∞ 1.0

To feel less nervous and more calm

How Tight

to clench
70 3.5
to purse
18 7.0
to pucker in surprise
6.5
to pucker
25 5.2

Surface Forms

pucker in surprise infinitive
puckering in surprise present participle
puckers in surprise third person singular
puckered in surprise past
puckered in surprise past participle

Morphology

pucker + in + surprise

The meaning is directly compositional: 'pucker' (to gather/crease, typically lips) combined with the prepositional phrase 'in surprise' signals that the contraction is a reaction to being surprised. This event/resultative construction is cross-linguistically common and follows straightforward English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the parts should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Pucker in surprise comes from the tiny face move when your lips suddenly pull together: your lips pucker into a small tight shape, like when you taste something sour. That's why it means 'show surprise'.