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 FROM shrivel

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

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|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|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|DAILY BEAST
A dreadful disease, possibly muscular dystrophy, had shriveled his legs.
Enough With This 'Lost Cause' Nonsense|Justin Green|February 19, 2013|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|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

Word Origin for 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

shrivel

OTHER WORDS FOR shrivel

Origin of shrivel

synonym study for shrivel

OTHER WORDS FROM shrivel

Words related to shrivel

How to use shrivel in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for shrivel

Word Origin for shrivel