shrivel

[ shriv-uhl ]

See synonyms for: shrivel shriveled shrivelled shrivels on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with or without object),shriv·eled, shriv·el·ing or (especially British) shriv·elled, shriv·el·ling.

to contract and wrinkle, as from great heat, cold, or dryness.
to wither; make or become helpless or useless.

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

synonym study For shrivel

1. See wither.

Other words for shrivel

shrink

See synonyms for shrivel on Thesaurus.com

Other words from shrivel

un·shriv·eled, adjective
un·shriv·elled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use shrivel in a sentence

They became so brown and shriveled that they looked like walking beef jerky with New York accents.
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’ | Asawin Suebsaeng | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
It will end up shriveled up, dried up, dead; rolled up in dirty gauze and tossed into a wastebasket, quickly forgotten.
No One Ever Loses to Cancer | Dushka Zapata | October 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The bone marrow of the dead soldiers was depleted dramatically, and their lymph nodes had shriveled away.
Sarin, Nitrogen Mustard, Cyanide & More: All About Chemical Weapons | Kent Sepkowitz | August 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
A dreadful disease, possibly muscular dystrophy, had shriveled his legs.
Enough With This 'Lost Cause' Nonsense | Justin Green | February 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
As the upstate economy has shriveled, the state government has come to rely heavily on the financial sector as a revenue source.
What Paterson Got Right | Reihan Salam | March 5, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST

The flavor was exceedingly fine, but it had not been allowed to come to maturity, hence it was thin and shriveled.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.
Presently a little old woman approaches, shriveled and smiling, in her faded furbelows now in rags.
The Real Latin Quarter | F. Berkeley Smith
The Church, the nobles, and the gentry then turned one grand, all-disapproving frown upon them and shriveled them into sheep!
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
The little being lay at the feet of its mother, almost shapeless, and already blackened and shriveled by the fiery sun.
The Pilgrim's Shell or Fergan the Quarryman | Eugne Sue
Could I stay the touch of that shriveled hand, I would keep the bald-head from No-man's-land.
The Book of Humorous Verse | Various

British Dictionary definitions for shrivel

shrivel

/ (ˈʃrɪvəl) /

verb-els, -elling or -elled or US -els, -eling or -eled

to make or become shrunken and withered
to lose or cause to lose vitality

Origin of shrivel

C16: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish dialect skryvla wrinkle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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