shrink away

verb

To draw back in fear; cringe, back down, shy away.

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Meanings

verbshrink away (third-person singular simple present shrinks away, present participle shrinking away, simple past shrank away or shrunk away, past participle shrunk away or shrunken away)

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

  1. To draw back in fear; cringe, back down, shy away.

    But Tommy was bashful, and the attention he had thus drawn upon himself made him blush. He was a timid lad and he shrank away now, evidently fearing Shell.

    1912, Stratemeyer Syndicate, chapter 1, in Baseball Joe on the School Nine
    1 more example

    Emily could be fearless enough on occasion; but in the presence of a nature which she instinctively felt to be hostile to hers she shrank away in something that was more repulsion than fear.

    1923, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Chapter 8”, in Emily of New Moon

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
shrink back

Origin

shrink + away

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto retiriĝi foren
  • retiriĝi forento draw back in fear; cringe, back down, shy away
Cite this entry
APA

shrink away. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrink%20away

MLA

“shrink away.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrink%20away. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shrink away,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrink%20away.

Source: shrink away on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.