shrinkage

[shring-kij]

noun

1. the act or fact of shrinking.

2. the amount or degree of shrinking.

3. reduction or depreciation in quantity, value, etc.

4. contraction of a fabric in finishing or washing.

5. the difference between the original weight of livestock and that after it has been prepared for marketing.

6. Commerce.,  loss of merchandise through breakage, pilferage, shoplifting, etc.

shrinkage

/ ˈʃrɪŋkɪdʒ /

noun

1. the act or fact of shrinking

2. the amount by which anything decreases in size, value, weight, etc

3. the loss in body weight during shipment and preparation of livestock for marketing as meat

4. the loss of merchandise in a retail store through theft or damage

Word History and Origins

Origin of shrinkage¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; shrink + -age

Example Sentences

The upshot is that officials eventually must decide when to resume purchases of securities to prevent further passive shrinkage of reserves.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There are several causes for the yield shrinkage, one being the big share price increases in recent years that pushed yields lower.

Read more on Barron's

"These materials tend to be porous, which significantly reduces their strength, and the parts suffer from excessive shrinkage, which causes warping," he says.

Read more on Science Daily

His team at Glamos has monitored a record shrinkage of the glaciers over the past few years.

Read more on BBC

More distressing is the collapse or shrinkage of the guardrails to prevent it, from the press to Congress to the business community to some judges.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• contraction 
• depreciation 
• diminution 
• reduction 
• shrinking www.thesaurus.com