shrink
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 scope.
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.
an act or instance of shrinking.
a shrinking movement.
shrinkage.
Also shrinker. Also called head shrinker. Slang. a psychotherapist, psychiatrist, or psychoanalyst.
Origin of shrink
1synonym study For shrink
Other words for shrink
Opposites for shrink
Other words from shrink
- shrink·a·ble, adjective
- shrink·ing·ly, adverb
- non·shrink·a·ble, adjective
- non·shrink·ing, adjective
- non·shrink·ing·ly, adverb
- o·ver·shrink, verb, o·ver·shrank or, often, o·ver·shrunk; o·ver·shrunk or o·ver·shrunk·en; o·ver·shrink·ing.
- un·shrink·a·ble, adjective
- un·shrink·ing, adjective
- un·shrink·ing·ly, adverb
Words Nearby shrink
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use shrink in a sentence
Kurz called time on the coalition and in elections last September the Freedom Party saw its share of the vote shrink.
The lever that’s now taking charge as demand recedes is the ongoing big shrink in inventory.
Housing flips the recession script: Prices will keep rising for up to a year, but here’s how the party will end | Shawn Tully | October 4, 2020 | FortuneThe big looming shrink in pollution permits raises questions about the sustainability of the EV-maker’s bottom line.
Tesla’s biggest profit center is dangerously close to running out of power | Shawn Tully | September 30, 2020 | FortuneA shrink later told me the dream represented “safe danger,” but I never understood half of what he said, including that.
Frasier is a radio shrink and Roz is his producer and friend.
Her magical ability to shrink people just by staring at them is also put to great use here.
They would go to the store with a repackaged and shrink-wrapped broken item inside a new box and return it for full value.
The Insane $11 Billion Scam at Retailers’ Return Desks | M.L. Nestel | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI learned some things I can't unlearn: human kneecaps look like rocks; bones when burnt, shrink and twist.
Knowing Where the Bodies Are Buried: An Excerpt From 'Lives in Ruins' | Marilyn Johnson | November 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTRepublicans can change their brand, appeal to the electorate, shrink government, grow the economy, and save capitalism.
To Make Their Victory Durable, the GOP Must Fix the Minimum Wage | Dmitri Mehlhorn | November 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe underlying economic factors that cause deficits to shrink often create circumstances that push them to shrink even faster.
Great was the surprise of Alf at the honour and labour thus thrust upon him, but he did not shrink from it.
The Giant of the North | R.M. BallantyneEven the lawless classes of society generally shrink from blood.
The History of England from the Accession of James II. | Thomas Babington MacaulayIt continues to grow after birth, but later begins to shrink and nearly disappears in the adult.
Man And His Ancestor | Charles MorrisThey brave dangers and risk consequences; shall we shrink from them?
She had held herself in her heart as his promised wife for six long weeks, how could she shrink from him?
Tessa Wadsworth's Discipline | Jennie M. Drinkwater
British Dictionary definitions for shrink
/ (ʃrɪŋk) /
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
the act or an instance of shrinking
slang a psychiatrist
Origin of shrink
1Derived forms of shrink
- shrinkable, adjective
- shrinker, noun
- shrinking, adjective
- shrinkingly, adverb
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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