coward, cowered

Coward or coward means a person who runs away from a task, through fear--
He felt like a coward after he ran away from the bullies.
He was afraid he would prove a coward when the shooting started.

Cowered or cowered ( rhymes, or nearly rhymes, with coward ) is the past tense ( yesterday, or some time ago ) of "cower", meaning to huddle and shiver with fright--
The poor little dog cowered in fright every time he heard a noise.
They cowered in a bunker until everything was quiet.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"The coward cowered in a foxhole while the other men went to fight."

Note--"cower" is a verb ( action word )--
I cower, you cower, he cowers, they cower, we all cower.
They were cowering.
"Coward" is a noun ( thing or idea )--
Was that one coward or two cowards?