shrivel
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
to contract and wrinkle, as from great heat, cold, or dryness.
- Synonyms:
- shrink
-
to wither; make or become helpless or useless.
verb
-
to make or become shrunken and withered
-
to lose or cause to lose vitality
Related Words
See wither.
Other Word Forms
- unshriveled adjective
- unshrivelled adjective
Etymology
Origin of shrivel
First recorded in 1595–1605; akin to Swedish skroflig “uneven, rough” (perhaps originally “wrinkled, shrunken”), dialectal Swedish skryvla “to wrinkle,” Old English sceorfan “to roughen”; scurf
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They say investment in the North Sea is shrivelling fast, with knock-on effects in refinery and chemical plant closures.
From BBC
Not the near-instant shrivelling of the SNP or anything like it, but a modest revival for Labour that could help in his long haul to Downing Street.
From BBC
Strings of strategically located outposts have changed the landscape of the territory - threatening to make a future Palestinian state little more than a shriveled constellation of disconnected enclaves.
From Washington Times
Strings of strategically located outposts have changed the landscape of the territory — threatening to make a future Palestinian state little more than a shriveled constellation of disconnected enclaves.
From Seattle Times
Yet the main source of municipal revenue has shriveled as real estate developers buy less public land because of a housing shakeout.
From New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
