shrink
/ˈʃɹɪŋk/
shrink verb: to cause to become smaller.
Verb
shrink (third-person singular simple present shrinks, present participle shrinking, simple past shrank or (nonstandard) shrunk, past participle shrunk or shrunken)
- To cause to become smaller.
- The dryer shrank my sweater.
- The bottom line is this: To shrink your gut, you need to start listening to it.2008 October, David Schipper, “Outsmart your stomach: Seven ways to fill your gut—and lose it, too”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 135
- To become smaller; to contract.
- This garment will shrink when wet.
- I have not found that water, by mixture of ashes, will shrink or draw into less room.1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...
- To cower or flinch.
- Molly shrank away from the blows of the whip.
- To draw back; to withdraw.
- The Libyc Hammon ſhrinks his horn,1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 10
- To withdraw or retire, as from danger.
- What happier natures shrink at with affright, / The hard inhabitant contends is right.1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC
- They assisted us against the Thebans when you shrank from the task.1881, Benjamin Jowett, transl., Thucydides
- Synonyms:
- shrink back, retreat, flinch
- To move back or away, especially because of fear or disgust.
Noun
shrink (plural shrinks)
- Shrinkage; contraction; recoil.
- Yet almost with, with sudden shrink, That I had less to praise.1818, Leigh Hunt, “To T** L** H**, Six Years Old, During a Sickness.”, in Foliage; […], London: Printed for C. and J. Ollier, Welbeck Street, page xlvii
- A psychiatrist or psychotherapist.
- You need to see a shrink, you crazy fool.
- My shrink said that he was an enabler, bad for me.
- Synonyms:
- head-shrinker, shrinker
- Loss of inventory, for example due to shoplifting or not selling items before their expiration date.
- Assuming the retailer's shrink is average or below, and the owner is comfortable with the level of shrink, perhaps nothing more need be done except to maintain vigilance and to monitor the shrink for signs of emerging problems.2011, Charles Sennewald, John Christman, Retail Crime, Security, and Loss Prevention: An Encyclopedic Reference, page 227
shrink meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
shrink in Hindi
- transitive: to cause something to shrink
- सिकोड़ना sikoṛnā
- intransitive: to contract, to become smaller
- सिकुड़ना sikuṛnā
shrink in Tamil
- சுருங்கு, சுருக்கு, குறுகு, குறுக்கு, குறுக்கம்
shrink in Urdu
- گھٹنا, پچکنا, سمٹنا, سکڑنا, پچکانا, سکیڑنا
shrink in Bengali
- সংকুচিত হওয়া, ছোট হয়ে যাওয়া
More languagesFewer languages
- shrink in Telugu
- కుంచించుకుపోవడానికి, కుంచించుకుపోవటానికి
- shrink in Malayalam
- ചുരുങ്ങുക, ചെറുതാകുക, ചെറുകുക, ശുഷ്കിക്കുക
- shrink in Kannada
- ಕುನುಂಗು, ಕುನುಗು, ಕುನುಗಿಸು, ಕುಲಿಗು
- shrink in Punjabi
- ਸੁੰਗੜਨਾ suṅgṛanā
- shrink in Gujarati
- સંકોચો
- shrink in Odia
- ସଙ୍କୁଚିତ କରିବା ପାଇଁ, ସଙ୍କୁଚିତ ହେବାକୁ
- shrink in Sanskrit
- कुच् kuc, विज् vij, क्रुञ्च् kruñc
- shrink in Nepali
- सङ्कुचित गर्न
- shrink in Arabic
- قَلَّصَ qallaṣa, تَقَلَّصَ taqallaṣa, أَحْجَمَ ʔaḥjama
- shrink in Indonesian
- memperkecil, menciutkan, mengecil, menciut
- shrink in Thai
- หด hòt, หดตัว
Examples of shrink in a sentence
- And shrink like parchment in consuming fire.1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza...
- I went to a shrink to analyze my dreams / She says it's lack of sex that's bringing me down1994 August, Green Day, “Basket Case” (track 7), in Dookie, Reprise Records:
- "From behind the counter of this provincial train station coffee shop, Joanna was barista and unofficial shrink to wildly varied London-bound travellers," writes author Laline Paull.2021 March 10, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 926, page 70:
Synonyms of shrink
Antonyms
Forms of shrink
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | shrinks |
| present participle | shrinking |
| past | shrank |
| past participle | shrunk |
| past participle | shrunken |
| past (nonstandard) | shrunk |
| Noun | |
| plural | shrinks |
Origin of shrink
From Middle English schrynken, from Old English sċrincan, from Proto-Germanic *skrinkwaną. Cognate with Dutch schrinken (“to shrink”). The sense “psychologist, psychotherapist” is a clipping of head-shrinker.
Words formed from shrink
- head-shrinker
- nonshrink
- nonshrinkable
- nonshrinking
- overshrink
- preshrink
- reshrink
- shrinkability
- shrinkable
- shrink away
- shrink back
- shrink down
- shrinkee
- shrinkflate
- shrinkflation
- shrinking frog
- shrinking violet
- shrinkproof
- shrink up
- shrink-wrap
- shrinkwrap
- shrinky
- sinew-shrunk
- unshrink
- unshrinkable
- unshrinking
- unshrinkingly
- antishrink
- grocery shrink ray
- headshrink
- heat shrink
- shrink band
- shrink rate
- shrink ray
- shrink-swell
- shrinkwrap license
- shrink-wrapped
Phrases with shrink
Words that rhyme with shrink
Questions about shrink
- What does shrink mean?
- Shrink means to cause to become smaller.
- What is shrink in Hindi?
- Shrink in Hindi is सिकोड़ना (sikoṛnā), सिकुड़ना (sikuṛnā). See Shrink meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use shrink in a sentence?
- And shrink like parchment in consuming fire.
- What part of speech is shrink?
- Shrink can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce shrink?
- Shrink is pronounced /ˈʃɹɪŋk/.
- What is the past tense of shrink?
- The past tense of shrink is shrank.
Words near shrink in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: shrink (page history and authors); shrink (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); shrink (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); shrink (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); shrink (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shrink (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); shrink (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਸੁੰਗੜਨਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); shrink (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shrink (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); कुच् (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); shrink (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-shrink.ogg.
Cite this entry: “shrink.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shrink. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.