shrink (ʃrɪŋk
)
Definitions
verb
Word forms: shrinks, shrinking, shrank, shrunk, shrunk, shrunken
- 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 withdraw ⇒
to shrink from the sight of blood
- to feel great reluctance (at) ⇒
to shrink from killing an animal
- to recoil or withdraw ⇒
noun
- the act or an instance of shrinking
- slang a psychiatrist
Alternative Forms
ˈshrinkable adjective ˈshrinker noun ˈshrinking adjective ˈshrinkingly adverbWord Origin
Old English scrincan; related to Old Norse skrokkr torso, Old Swedish skrunkin wrinkled, Old Norse hrukka a crease, Icelandic skrukka wrinkled womanTranslations
- British English:
shrink
If something shrinks or you shrink it, it becomes smaller.The vast forests of West Africa have shrunk.ʃrɪŋk VERB The vast forests of West Africa have shrunk.
- Spanish:
encoger
v
- French:
rétrécir
v
- German:
schrumpfen
v
- Chinese: 萎缩 v
- Arabic: يَتَقَلَّصُ v
- Portuguese: encolher v
- Russian: уменьшать(ся) v
- Croatian: smanjiti se v
- Czech: srazit (se) v srážet (se)
- Danish: krympe v
- Dutch: krimpen v
- Finnish: kutistua v
- Greek: ζαρώνω v
- Italian: restringersi v
- Japanese: 縮む v
- Korean: 줄어들다 v
- Norwegian: krympe v
- Polish: skurczyć się v kurczyć się
- Brazilian Portuguese: encolher v
- European Spanish:
encogerse
v
- Swedish: krympa v
- Thai: หด v
- Turkish: kısalmak v
- Vietnamese: co lại v
Usage examples
I wouldn't put much money on Dyer's staying out of the shrink 's hands much longer.
, Passion in the Peak (1985)Of course anti-war demos shrink once the fighting has officially ended.
Spiked (2003)And those rising fees come as stock-fund holders have seen their retirement accounts shrink month after month.
Globe and Mail (2003)Another success will see his odds for the Queen Mother Chase at the Chelt-enham Festival, currently 8-1, shrink further.
Sun, News of the World (2000)Osmosis causes water to pass out of the cell, making the vacuole shrink , resulting in the pulling away of the cytoplasm from the cell wall.
, Biology Basic Facts (1982)