Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

shy

2 verb
     
NEW! See related topics: HORSES
shy2 past tense and past participle shied, present participle shying, third person singular shies [intransitive]
DSH if a horse shies, it makes a sudden movement away from something because it is frightened:
The horse shied, throwing Darrel from his saddle.

shy away from something

phrasal verb
to avoid doing or dealing with something because you are not confident enough or you are worried or nervous about it:
They criticized the leadership, but shied away from a direct challenge.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
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