shrink
shrink
/ʃrɪŋk/
1 intransitive, transitive shrink (something) to become smaller, especially when washed in water that is too hot; to make clothes, cloth, etc. smaller in this way My sweater shrank in the wash.
The tumour had shrunk to the size of a pea.
The market for their products is shrinking.
shrink something The internet in a sense has shrunk the world.
Households have been shrinking in size but increasing in number.
Their profits shrank by 4% last year.
Their share of the market has shrunk from 14% to 5%.
Collocations
adverb
preposition
by
from
to
phrases
shrink in size
3 intransitive + adv./prep. to move back or away from something because you are frightened or shocked He shrank back against the wall as he heard them approaching.
I shrank back into the shadows.
She shrank back in terror.
She shrank from his touch.
Collocations
adverb
a little
verb + shrink
try to
preposition
against
in
into
Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
Word Origin
Old English scrincan, of Germanic origin; related to Swedish skrynka ‘to wrinkle’.