shrink
Americanverb (used without object)
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to draw back, as in retreat or avoidance.
to shrink from danger; to shrink from contact.
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to contract or lessen in size, as from exposure to conditions of temperature or moisture.
This cloth will not shrink if washed in lukewarm water.
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to become reduced in extent or scope.
- Antonyms:
- increase
verb (used with object)
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to cause to shrink or contract; reduce.
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Textiles. to cause (a fabric) to contract during finishing, thus preventing shrinkage, during laundering, of the garments made from it.
noun
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an act or instance of shrinking.
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a shrinking movement.
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shrinkage.
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Also called head shrinker. Slang. Also a psychotherapist, psychiatrist, or psychoanalyst.
verb
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to contract or cause to contract as from wetness, heat, cold, etc
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to become or cause to become smaller in size
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to recoil or withdraw
to shrink from the sight of blood
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to feel great reluctance (at)
to shrink from killing an animal
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noun
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the act or an instance of shrinking
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slang a psychiatrist
Related Words
Other Word Forms
- nonshrinkable adjective
- nonshrinking adjective
- nonshrinkingly adverb
- overshrink verb
- shrinkable adjective
- shrinker noun
- shrinking adjective
- shrinkingly adverb
- unshrinkable adjective
- unshrinking adjective
- unshrinkingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of shrink
First recorded before 900, and in 1955–60 shrink for def. 9; Middle English schrinken, Old English scrincan; cognate with Middle Dutch schrinken, Swedish skrynka “to shrink,” Norwegian skrukka “old shrunken woman”
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.
Following the lake's formation in 1995, its surface area gradually shrank as cracks began to appear.
From Science Daily
New orders, a measure of future business, are shrinking.
From Barron's
Key details: New orders shrank for the fourth month in a row.
From MarketWatch
The government has sought to boost China's flagging birth rate, concerned about the rapidly ageing and shrinking population, as well as record low marriage rates.
From Barron's
There were just 9.54 million births in China in 2024 -- half the number than in 2016 -- and concerns about the shrinking and ageing population have been growing as couples choose to buck traditional Chinese norms.
From Barron's
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.
