shrink

Meanings

Verb

• To cause to become smaller.
• To become smaller; to contract.
• To cower or flinch.
• To draw back; to withdraw.
• To withdraw or retire, as from danger.
• To move back or away, especially because of fear or disgust.

Noun

• Shrinkage; contraction; recoil.
• A psychiatrist or psychotherapist.
• Loss of inventory, for example due to shoplifting or not selling items before their expiration date.

Related

Similar words

• funk, shirk
• shrink back, retreat

Opposite words

• expand, grow, enlarge, stretch

Origin

• From Middle English schrynken, from Old English sċrincan, from Proto-Germanic *skrinkwaną. Cognate with Dutch schrinken ("to shrink").
• The sense is a .