shrunken
[shruhng-kuh n]
- a past participle of shrink.
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shrink
[shringk]
- to draw back, as in retreat or avoidance: to shrink from danger; to shrink from contact.
- to contract or lessen in size, as from exposure to conditions of temperature or moisture: This cloth will not shrink if washed in lukewarm water.
- to become reduced in extent or compass.
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- to cause to shrink or contract; reduce.
- Textiles. to cause (a fabric) to contract during finishing, thus preventing shrinkage, during laundering, of the garments made from it.
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Origin of shrink
before 900; 1955–60 for def 9; Middle English schrinken, Old English scrincan; cognate with Middle Dutch schrinken, Swedish skrynka to shrink, Norwegian skrukka old shrunken woman
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
Antonyms
3. increase.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for shrunken
Contemporary Examples
And I like the way you carried your mic pack like it was a shrunken head.
A Reality TV Competition About Reading? Literary Death Match Wants a ShowMelissa Goldstein
December 13, 2012
I miss the strife His shrunken staff, his hungry wife Inflame chafe!
So says Thomas Hobbes, whose definition of all laughter illuminates those moments when we smugly parade past the shrunken giants.
With a taut, shrunken face, a penchant for cocaine injections, and a fondness for disguise and deception, Holmes is his own Hyde.
One sweater, in particular, a short-sleeve, shrunken crewneck, was charmingly marked by teardrop-shaped dollops of teal blue.
Historical Examples
Mike had shrunken into his allenveloping coat with pathetic moroseness.
ThoroughbredsW. A. Fraser
The girl slid her arm under his neck, and then his shrunken hand was at rest.
The ScapegoatHall Caine
His nose, which seemed to have grown longer, descended over his shrunken lips.
BalthasarAnatole France
The frame must once have been powerful, but now it was shrunken and emaciated.
All Roads Lead to CalvaryJerome K. Jerome
How shrunken with the sorrow of their wretched lives, and yet how sportive they seem!
An OutcastF. Colburn Adams
shrunken
- a past participle of shrink
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- (usually prenominal) reduced in sizea shrunken head
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shrink
- to contract or cause to contract as from wetness, heat, cold, etc
- to become or cause to become smaller in size
- (intr often foll by from)
- to recoil or withdrawto shrink from the sight of blood
- to feel great reluctance (at)to shrink from killing an animal
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- the act or an instance of shrinking
- slang a psychiatrist
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Word Origin
Old English scrincan; related to Old Norse skrokkr torso, Old Swedish skrunkin wrinkled, Old Norse hrukka a crease, Icelandic skrukka wrinkled woman
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
Word Origin and History for shrunken
adj.
Old English gescruncan, past participle adjective from shrink (v.).
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shrink
v.
Old English scrincan "to draw in the limbs, contract, shrivel up; wither, pine away" (class III strong verb; past tense scranc, past participle scruncen), from Proto-Germanic *skrink- (cf. Middle Dutch schrinken), probably from PIE root *(s)ker- (3) "to turn, bend."
Originally with causal shrench (cf. drink/drench). Sense of "become reduced in size" recorded from late 13c. The meaning "draw back, recoil" (early 14c.) perhaps was suggested by the behavior of snails. Transitive sense, "cause to shrink" is from late 14c. Shrink-wrap is attested from 1961 (shrinking-wrap from 1959). Shrinking violet "shy person" attested from 1882.
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shrink
n.
"an act of shrinking," 1580s, from shrink (v.). Slang meaning "psychiatrist," (1966) is from head-shrinker.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper