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shrank

American  
[shrangk] / ʃræŋk /

verb

  1. a simple past tense of shrink.

shrank British  
/ ʃræŋk /

verb

  1. a past tense of shrink

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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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.

The letter also bizarrely claims that tumor biopsies—which are done in most cancer trials—could have been the reason that tumors shrank and patients entered remission.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Evergrande's stock market valuation shrank by 99% before its shares were taken off the Hong Kong exchange in August 2025 after more than a decade and a half of trading.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

In 2025, the sector's workforce in Switzerland shrank for the first time since the Covid crisis, falling by 1.3 percent to 64,807 people, according to the Swiss Watch Industry Employers' Association.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

As a result, the U.S. beef cattle inventory shrank to its lowest level since 1962, a problem that restricts beef supplies for years.

From Salon • Apr. 8, 2026

Llewelyn even shrank back, but only for a moment.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

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.