[shrink] vb shrank also shrunk ; shrunk or shrunk.en ; shrink.ing [ME, fr. OE scrincan; akin to MD schrinken to draw back] vi (bef. 12c) 1: to contract or curl up the body or part of it: huddle, cower
2. a: to contract to less extent or compass b: to become smaller or more compacted c: to lose substance or weight d: to lessen in value: dwindle
3: to recoil instinctively (as from something painful or horrible) "shrank from the challenge" ~ vt: to cause to contract or shrink; specif: to compact (cloth) by causing to contract when subjected to washing, boiling, steaming, or other processes syn see contract, recoil -- shrink.able adj -- shrink.er n
[2]shrink n (1590) 1: the act of shrinking
2: shrinkage 3 [short for headshrinker]: a clinical psychiatrist or psychologist "regaling us with all the stories he never told his ~ --Rolling Stone"