- past tense form of shrink.
shrank
Americanverb
verb
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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.
As continental shelves shrank, more phosphate entered the water.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
A tumbling stock price, however, shrank the value of those holdings by $2.4 billion last year, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Medics were unable to completely remove her tumours but one shrank with radiotherapy.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Interest costs are already eating up some 20% of state revenue, de Sousa adds, though Petro’s government temporarily shrank that through a short-term “liability management exercise.”
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
Razi and Shifa shrank under the whale, their mouths stretched in silent screams as the mammoth shadow blotted out the sky.
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
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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.