shrinkable
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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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| Adj. | 1. | shrinkable - capable of being shrunk; "a shrinkable fabric" unshrinkable - incapable of being shrunk or diminished or reduced |
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