shrink-wrap

American  

[shringk-rap] / ˈʃrɪŋkˌræp /

Also shrinkwrap,

verb (used with object)

shrink-wrapped, shrink-wrapping

1. to wrap and seal (a book, a food product, etc.) in a flexible film of plastic that, when exposed to a heating process, shrinks to the contour of the merchandise.

---

noun

1. the plastic film used to shrink-wrap something.

shrink-wrap British  

verb

1. (tr) to package (a product) in a flexible plastic wrapping designed to shrink about its contours to protect and seal it

---

Etymology

Origin of shrink-wrap

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shrink-wrap shrink-wrapped shrink-wrapping

Fiction, that slippery, transparent shrink-wrap of artifice pulled taut across reality, is running the show.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2022

Many still package their bottles with common shrink-wrap seals, despite the ease with which such closures can be faked.

From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2022

He stoops to pick up a long tail of shrink-wrap off the factory floor, glowers a bit.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 17, 2021

The scaffolding went up first, then in May this year, the shrink-wrap followed.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2021

“They only have one left!” he gushed, tearing off the cellophane shrink-wrap and prying open the lid.

From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein

Long before Christmas turkeys arrived shrink-wrapped in the shops, they walked to market on their own two feet.

From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025

Okay, now it got real,’” Arcement’s wife Nerina Garcia-Arcement said of the six pallet-loads of shrink-wrapped boxes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025

A shrink-wrapped Endeavour was hoisted and then carefully placed in its final location Tuesday at the still-under-construction Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 29, 2024

The cans are coded, labeled, packed into cases, shrink-wrapped and put into pallets for shipment.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2022

I was thankful to have experienced them in full, as living creatures and not as items shrink-wrapped in the supermarket.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

Seal these rifts with puttylike rope caulk and begin shrink-wrapping before winter’s icy grip takes hold.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2023

They have more and better shelving and spaces designated for shrink-wrapping books and photographing them for web sales.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2021

Opening the shrink-wrapping meant the customer accepted the agreement.

From Economist ● Jun. 19, 2017

Inventory was moved over the course of several weeks by shrink-wrapping the shelves and wheeling them down the street on dollies, said David Brooks, 62, the owner.

From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2017

Mr. Mannion said the alternatives included shrink-wrapping or Heli-Cells—inflatable climate-controlled canopies originally developed to protect expensive classic cars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2016