shrinking
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shrink
(shrĭngk)v. shrank (shrăngk) or shrunk (shrŭngk), shrunk or shrunk·en (shrŭng′kən), shrink·ing, shrinks
v.intr.
1.
a. To become or appear to become smaller: The shadows shrank as the sun rose higher. The mountains shrank in the distance as we drove away.
b. To become smaller from exposure to heat, moisture, or cold: The sweater shrank in the wash.
2. To become reduced in amount or value; dwindle: His savings quickly shrank. The market for that product has been shrinking.
3. To move back or away, especially in fear: "She shrank back against the wall and flattened her palms against it" (Pearl S. Buck).
4. To show reluctance; hesitate: We should not shrink from making such a sacrifice.
v.tr.
To cause to shrink: The treatment shrank the tumor.
n.
1.
a. The act of shrinking.
b. The degree to which something shrinks; shrinkage.
2. Slang A psychotherapist.
[Middle English shrinken, to wither, shrivel up, from Old English scrincan; see sker- in Indo-European roots.]
shrink′a·ble adj.
shrink′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Noun | 1. | ![]() compression, contraction, condensation - the process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together; "the contraction of a gas on cooling" |
2. | shrinking - the act of becoming less miniaturisation, miniaturization - act of making on a greatly reduced scale |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
shrinking
[ˈʃrɪŋkɪŋ]B. CPD shrinking violet N (fig) → tímido/a m/f, vergonzoso/a m/f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
shrinking
adj
(= decreasing) → schrumpfend, abnehmend
(= shy) → scheu
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007