Library / English Dictionary

SHRINK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: shrank    , shrunk    , shrunken   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A physician who specializes in psychiatry

Synonyms:

head-shrinker; psychiatrist; shrink

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("shrink" is a kind of...):

medical specialist; specialist (practices one branch of medicine)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shrink"):

alienist (a psychiatrist and specialist in the legal aspects of mental illness)

analyst; psychoanalyst (a licensed practitioner of psychoanalysis)

Instance hyponyms:

Horney; Karen Danielsen Horney; Karen Horney (United States psychiatrist (1885-1952))

Jaspers; Karl Jaspers; Karl Theodor Jaspers (German psychiatrist (1883-1969))

Charles Frederick Menninger; Charles Menninger; Menninger (United States psychiatrist who with his sons founded a famous psychiatric clinic in Topeka (1862-1953))

Karl Augustus Menninger; Karl Menninger; Menninger (United States psychiatrist and son of Charles Menninger (1893-1990))

Menninger; William Claire Menninger; William Menninger (United States psychiatrist and son of Charles Menninger (1899-1966))

Harry Stack Sullivan; Sullivan (United States psychiatrist (1892-1949))

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Decrease in size, range, or extent

Example:

My courage shrivelled when I saw the task before me

Synonyms:

shrink; shrivel

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "shrink" is one way to...):

decrease; diminish; fall; lessen (decrease in size, extent, or range)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

Their earnings shrink this year

Derivation:

shrinking (the act of becoming less)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become smaller or draw together

Example:

The balloon shrank

Synonyms:

contract; shrink

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "shrink" is one way to...):

decrease; diminish; fall; lessen (decrease in size, extent, or range)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shrink"):

flex (contract)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

These fabrics shrink easily

Antonym:

stretch (become longer by being stretched and pulled)

Derivation:

shrinkage (process or result of becoming less or smaller)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Reduce in size; reduce physically

Example:

Can you shrink this image?

Synonyms:

reduce; shrink

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "shrink" is one way to...):

decrease; lessen; minify (make smaller)

Cause:

contract; shrink (become smaller or draw together)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shrink"):

contract (make smaller)

downsize (design or manufacture in a smaller size)

depopulate; desolate (reduce in population)

miniaturise; miniaturize (design or construct on a smaller scale)

reef (reduce (a sail) by taking in a reef)

reduce; scale down (make smaller)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

shrinkage; shrinking (process or result of becoming less or smaller)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Wither, as with a loss of moisture

Example:

The fruit dried and shriveled

Synonyms:

shrink; shrivel; shrivel up; wither

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "shrink" is one way to...):

decrease; diminish; fall; lessen (decrease in size, extent, or range)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shrink"):

atrophy (undergo atrophy)

blast (shrivel or wither or mature imperfectly)

die back; die down (suffer from a disease that kills shoots)

dry up; mummify (dry up and shrivel due to complete loss of moisture)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

Draw back, as with fear or pain

Example:

she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf

Synonyms:

cringe; flinch; funk; quail; recoil; shrink; squinch; wince

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "shrink" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shrink"):

retract; shrink back (pull away from a source of disgust or fear)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

Then he shrank for fear, turned pale, and trembled.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

But surprisingly, the individual stems had shrunk by 16%.

(High carbon dioxide can create 'shrinking stems' in marshes, National Science Foundation)

T cells grown in the presence of extra potassium and transplanted into mice shrank primary and metastatic melanoma tumors better than T cells grown in normal levels of potassium.

(Harnessing T-cell “stemness” could enhance cancer immunotherapy, National Institutes of Health)

It’s small, it’s hot, and it’s shrinking.

(The Incredible Shrinking Mercury is Active After All, NASA)

I shrank from his hand; my flesh revolted.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Chemotherapy or radiation therapy may be given before surgery to shrink the tumor or after surgery to kill any cancer cells that remain.

(Curative surgery, NCI Dictionary)

“Not I, most worthy sir,” cried the carrier, shrinking away from the fierce eyes of the bowman.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They might shrink from actual violence at the last.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A weakening, shrinking, and loss of muscle caused by disease or lack of use.

(Muscle Atrophy, NCI Dictionary)

I feared—or should I say, hoped? —the allusion to me would make Mr. Rochester glance my way; and I involuntarily shrank farther into the shade: but he never turned his eyes.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)