SHRUNK

SHRINK

shrink, contract

(verb) become smaller or draw together; “The fabric shrank”; “The balloon shrank”

shrink, reduce

(verb) reduce in size; reduce physically; “Hot water will shrink the sweater”; “Can you shrink this image?”

shrivel, shrivel up, shrink, wither

(verb) wither, as with a loss of moisture; “The fruit dried and shriveled”

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

(verb) draw back, as with fear or pain; “she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Verb

shrunk

simple past tense and past participle of shrink

Usage notes

In casual use, found even in careful speech, interchangeable with shrank; in careful formal use, only used for past participle "I have shrunk", while shrank is used for the past tense "I shrank". Compare sank/sunk. The inconsistent usage is due to the fact that shrink is a Germanic strong verb, hence conjugated via ablaut (change of vowel rather than adding -ed), but these are irregular in modern English. The past tense "shrunk" is derived from the Old English plural past "scruncon". The same form is found in other past tenses, such as "slunk".

The 1989 movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (formally: Honey, I Shrank the Kids or Honey, I've Shrunk the Kids) is an example of the prevalence of the casual form.

Note that in the 1844 translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, the form "shrank" is used in IV Maccabees 14:4 ("None of the seven youths turned cowardly, or shrank back from death", singular subject), whereas "shrunk" is used in I Maccabees 3:6 ("Wherefore the wicked shrunk for fear of him, and all the workers of iniquity were troubled, because salvation prospered in his hand", plural subject).

The preferred form when used adjectivally is "shrunken".

Usage notes

• "shrunk/shrank", Paul Brians

Source: Wiktionary

SHRINK

Shrink, v. i. [imp. Shrank or Shrunk p. p. Shrunk or Shrunken (, but the latter is now seldom used except as a participial adjective; p. pr. & vb. n. Shrinking.] Etym: [OE. shrinken, schrinken, AS. scrincan; akin to OD. schrincken, and probably to Sw. skrynka a wrinkle, skrynkla to wrinkle, to rumple, and E. shrimp, n. & v., scrimp. CF. Shrimp.]

1. To wrinkle, bend, or curl; to shrivel; hence, to contract into a less extent or compass; to gather together; to become compacted. And on a broken reed he still did stay His feeble steps, which shrunk when hard thereon he lay. Spenser. I have not found that water, by mixture of ashes, will shrink or draw into less room. Bacon. Against this fire do I shrink up. Shak. And shrink like parchment in consuming fire. Dryden. All the boards did shrink. Coleridge.

2. To withdraw or retire, as from danger; to decline action from fear; to recoil, as in fear, horror, or distress. What happier natures shrink at with affright, The hard inhabitant contends is right. Pope. They assisted us against the Thebans when you shrank from the task. Jowett (Thucyd.)

3. To express fear, horror, or pain by contracting the body, or part of it; to shudder; to quake. [R.] Shak.

Shrink, v. t.

1. To cause to contract or shrink; as, to shrink finnel by imersing it in boiling water.

2. To draw back; to withdraw. [Obs.] The Libyc Hammon shrinks his horn. Milton. To shrink on (Mach.), to fix (one piece or part) firmly around (another) by natural contraction in cooling, as a tire on a wheel, or a hoop upon a cannon, which is made slightly smaller than the part it is to fit, and expanded by heat till it can be slipped into place.

Shrink, n.

Definition: The act shrinking; shrinkage; contraction; also, recoil; withdrawal. Yet almost wish, with sudden shrink, That I had less to praise. Leigh Hunt.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

SHRUNK

SHRINK

Verb

Usage notes

Usage notes

SHRINK

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