shrink-wrap

noun

A plastic film that is used to protect an item and which during application contracts so it tightly enclose it.

“We spent all day shrink-wrapping boxes and now my feet hurt.”

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Meanings

nounshrink-wrap (countable and uncountable, plural shrink-wraps)

plural shrink-wraps

  1. countableuncountableA plastic film that is used to protect an item and which during application contracts so it tightly enclose it.

    Please order another five rolls of shrink-wrap from the supply house.

  2. countableuncountableThe wrapping around an item that has been shrink-wrapped.

    Please don't damage the shrink-wrap when you are boxing up the items for shipment.

verbshrink-wrap (third-person singular simple present shrink-wraps, present participle shrink-wrapping, simple past and past participle shrink-wrapped)

present singular third person shrink-wraps · participle present shrink-wrapping · participle past shrink-wrapped · past shrink-wrapped

  1. To apply shrink-wrap to (an item).

    We spent all day shrink-wrapping boxes and now my feet hurt.

  2. derogatorybiologyTo reconstruct an extinct creature known from its fossils by depicting it with minimal soft tissue, yielding a thinner and less accurate representation of the creature.

    Such shrink-wrapped models gave generations of schoolchildren mental images of dinosaurs that are probably much uglier and scrawnier than the creatures were in reality.

Origin

From shrink + wrap.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan retractilació
  • retractilaciówrapping around a shrink-wrapped item
Esperanto ŝrumpfolio, ŝrumpfolio
  • ŝrumpfolioplastic film that is used to protect an item
  • ŝrumpfoliowrapping around a shrink-wrapped item
German Schrumpffolie, Schrumpffolienverpackung
  • Schrumpffolieplastic film that is used to protect an item
  • Schrumpffolienverpackungwrapping around a shrink-wrapped item
Hungarian zsugorfólia, fólia
  • zsugorfóliaplastic film that is used to protect an item
  • fóliaplastic film that is used to protect an item
Swedish krympfilm, krympplast
  • krympfilmplastic film that is used to protect an item
  • krympplastplastic film that is used to protect an item
  • krympfilmwrapping around a shrink-wrapped item
  • krympplastwrapping around a shrink-wrapped item
Cite this entry
APA

shrink-wrap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrink-wrap

MLA

“shrink-wrap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrink-wrap. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shrink-wrap,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrink-wrap.

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