shrink

present singular third person shrinks · participle present shrinking · past shrank · nonstandard past shrunk · participle past shrunk · participle past shrunken

1. transitiveTo cause to become smaller.

   The dryer shrank my sweater.

   1 more example

   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

2. intransitiveTo become smaller; to contract.

   This garment will shrink when wet.

   4 more examples

   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 by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC

   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 number)

   Since 1982, it has shrunk by 250 meters.

   2018, VOA Learning English > China's Melting Glacier Brings Visitors, Adds to Climate Concerns

   When they took over the 1000 'Flying Scotsman' from May 1979, the journey from London to Edinburgh shrank to just 4hrs 37mins - including a stop at Newcastle.

   2021 October 6, Greg Morse, “A need for speed and the drive for 125”, in RAIL, number 941, page 52

3. intransitiveTo cower or flinch.

   Molly shrank away from the blows of the whip.

4. transitiveTo 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

   Synonyms: funk, shirk

5. figurativelyintransitiveTo withdraw or retire, as from danger.

   They assisted us against the Thebans when you shrank from the task.

   1881, Benjamin Jowett, transl., Thucydides

   2 more examples

   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

   The other patients in the ward, all but the Texan, shrank from him with a tenderhearted aversion from the moment they set eyes on him the morning after the night he had been sneaked in.

   1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 169

   Synonyms: shrink back, retreat, flinch

6. intransitiveTo move back or away, especially because of fear or disgust.

plural shrinks

1. 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

2. derogatoryslangsometimesA psychiatrist or psychotherapist.

   You need to see a shrink, you crazy fool.

   3 more examples

   My shrink said that he was an enabler, bad for me.

   I went to a shrink to analyze my dreams / She says it's lack of sex that's bringing me down

   1994 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. Confessions of a Barista on Platform 1 was published on February 9 by The Firle Press [...].

   2021 March 10, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 926, page 70

   Synonyms: head-shrinker, shrinker

3. uncountablebusinessLoss 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