The Collaborative International Dictionary
Shrivel \Shriv"el\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Shriveledor Shrivelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Shriveling or Shrivelling.] [Probably akin to shrimp, shrink; cf. dial. AS. screpa to pine away, Norw. skrypa to waste, skryp, skryv, transitory, frail, Sw. skr["o]pling feeble, Dan. skr["o]belig, Icel. skrj?pr brittle, frail.] To draw, or be drawn, into wrinkles; to shrink, and form corrugations; as, a leaf shriveles in the hot sun; the skin shrivels with age; -- often with up.
Wiktionary
alt. (present participle of shrivel English) vb. (present participle of shrivel English)
WordNet
v. wither, especially with a loss of moisture; "The fruit dried and shriveled" [syn: shrivel up, shrink, wither]
decrease in size, range, or extent; "His earnings shrank"; "My courage shrivelled when I saw the task before me" [syn: shrink]
[also: shrivelling, shrivelled]
See shrivel
Wikipedia
Shrivelling is a natural phenomenon where an object, with an attached sub- elastic covering, has its interior volume reduced in some way. The covering, which cannot contract any further, is then obliged to wrinkle and buckle, in order to preserve surface area while containing the lesser volume.
Usage examples of "shrivelling".
The reinvigorated grass was withering all around him, shrivelling back to dry brown flakes that crumbled away in the howling wind.
The veil of safety gone and his nerves stripped raw, burning and shrivelling in the slightest breeze.
The next she knew his long teeth were in her throat and her limbs were shrivelling with weakness.
His rapidly shrivelling brain, desiccated bones and knotted ligaments must certainly have done for him by now, when during some nightmare raid from Starside - with neither wit to hide himself away, nor agility to flee - Jasef would have ended his days as fodder in the belly of a hybrid Wamphyri warrior creature.
And then she hugged him, and sobbed while she worked his shrivelling flesh in her hand.
Others merely stood, swords and spears dropping from their hands as they knelt beside the shrivelling corpses.
How we never did eat those oranges, those bad-luck oranges shrivelling brown and dry and lifeless in the back of the fridge.
Then they stopped, each having noted the other's flight, and peered at one another through the shrivelling corn.