Crossword clues for shrank
shrank
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Shrank \Shrank\, imp. of Shrink.
Shrink \Shrink\, v. i. [imp. Shrankor Shrunkp. p. Shrunk or Shrunken, but the latter is now seldom used except as a participial adjective; p. pr. & vb. n. Shrinking.] [OE. shrinken, schrinken, AS. scrincan; akin to OD. schrincken, and probably to Sw. skrynka a wrinkle, skrynkla to wrinkle, to rumple, and E. shrimp, n. & v., scrimp. CF. Shrimp.]
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To wrinkle, bend, or curl; to shrivel; hence, to contract into a less extent or compass; to gather together; to become compacted.
And on a broken reed he still did stay His feeble steps, which shrunk when hard thereon he lay.
--Spenser.I have not found that water, by mixture of ashes, will shrink or draw into less room.
--Bacon.Against this fire do I shrink up.
--Shak.And shrink like parchment in consuming fire.
--Dryden.All the boards did shrink.
--Coleridge. -
To withdraw or retire, as from danger; to decline action from fear; to recoil, as in fear, horror, or distress.
What happier natures shrink at with affright, The hard inhabitant contends is right.
--Pope.They assisted us against the Thebans when you shrank from the task.
--Jowett (Thucyd.) To express fear, horror, or pain by contracting the body, or part of it; to shudder; to quake. [R.]
--Shak.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
past tense of shrink (v.).
Wiktionary
Etymology 1 vb. (en-simple past of: shrink) Etymology 2
n. (context US Pennsylvania Dutch English English) A large highly decorative Dutch or German-style piece of furniture, which combines aspects of a clothing wardrobe, curio, and cabinet.
WordNet
n. a physician who specializes in psychiatry [syn: psychiatrist, head-shrinker]
v. wither, especially with a loss of moisture; "The fruit dried and shriveled" [syn: shrivel, shrivel up, wither]
draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf" [syn: flinch, squinch, funk, cringe, wince, recoil, quail]
reduce in size; reduce physically; "Hot water will shrink the sweater"; "Can you shrink this image?" [syn: reduce]
become smaller or draw together; "The fabric shrank"; "The balloon shrank" [syn: contract] [ant: expand, stretch]
decrease in size, range, or extent; "His earnings shrank"; "My courage shrivelled when I saw the task before me" [syn: shrivel]
See shrink
Usage examples of "shrank".
Tiny colored silhouettes shivering over his optronic membranes shrank to nothing.
Nearer and nearer it came, borne on the sparkling waves, and ever thinner shrank the protecting wall of shadow between it and us.
And even as it compassed, the brain shrank from it irresistibly, and simultaneously it seemed reached toward it with irresistible eagerness.
As it fell so it shrank, until finally it skimmed across the land in a huge ball of fire, like a flat stone bouncing on water, and came to rest back there beyond the mountains.
White-faced, Jazz and Zek shrank back into the shadow of the rock, stared at each other.
Vyotsky looked at him - and at once shrank back, cringing from the horror of his face.
Lawrence saw the edge of the silo falling away from them, a dark hexagon framed in lusterless silver-white metal that shrank into the middle of a honeycomb of identical silos.
The swaths of cloud shrank away to a shimmering haze that veiled the world.
Crown reeds gradually shrank away to be replaced by small wiry bushes, their bark a dull russet color.
Slowly she shrank into a fetal position on the cot, hugging her legs tight to her chest.
Moon shrank back, felt Gundhalinu recoil beside her, as the cacophony shattered senses attuned to the fragile silence of the snow.
Everyone cried out or screamed, leapt up or shrank down, fell over chairs or tried to dive under tables.
Now, growing uneasy for I shrank from this jest who doubted whether Belus could play the conjurer even when he tried, he who was filled with so strange and true a wisdom, I rose and looked over his shoulder into the bowl.
We were led to this apartment and at its door I shrank back in horror, for it was the same in which years before I had seen the Queen Atyra lying dead upon her couch.
As she spoke she came forward as though to embrace me, but something in my face caused her to change her mind, for she shrank back and sat herself down again in the chair.