shrivel
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
to contract and wrinkle, as from great heat, cold, or dryness.
- Synonyms:
- shrink
-
to wither; make or become helpless or useless.
verb
-
to make or become shrunken and withered
-
to lose or cause to lose vitality
Related Words
See wither.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of shrivel
First recorded in 1595–1605; akin to Swedish skroflig “uneven, rough” (perhaps originally “wrinkled, shrunken”), dialectal Swedish skryvla “to wrinkle,” Old English sceorfan “to roughen”; see scurf
Explanation
When things shrivel, they wrinkle up and get smaller, the way leaves begin to shrivel and turn brown in the fall. A lack of moisture can cause something to shrivel, and in humans it tends to be the natural process of aging that makes people shrivel a bit. Flowers will shrivel if you forget to water them, and grapes will eventually shrivel into raisins if you dry them out long enough. The root of shrivel is uncertain, but it may have a Scandinavian source and be related to the Swedish word skryvla, "to wrinkle."
Vocabulary lists containing shrivel
Seedfolks
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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"The Jacket"
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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.
"Shrivel the falsehood" from us if we say we love Thee but obey Thee not!
From Things as They Are Mission Work in Southern India by Carmichael, Amy
The star that breathes a horrible fury of fire Like glaring fog into the empty night; And in the gust of its wrath the world will soon Shrivel and spin like paper in a furnace.
From Georgian Poetry 1913-15 by Marsh, Edward Howard, Sir
The fainting year sees her fresh flowery wreath Shrivel in his hot grasp; his burning breath Dries the sweet water-springs that in the shade Wandering along, delicious music made.
From Poems by Kemble, Fanny
Shrivel, shriv′l, v.i. and v.t. to contract into wrinkles: to blight:—pr.p. shriv′elling; pa.t. and pa.p. shriv′elled.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
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.
