Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to shrink
Participle: shrunk
Gerund: shrinking
Indicative
Present
| I | shrink |
| you | shrink |
| he;she;it | shrinks |
| we | shrink |
| you | shrink |
| they | shrink |
Perfect
| I | have shrunk |
| you | have shrunk |
| he;she;it | has shrunk |
| we | have shrunk |
| you | have shrunk |
| they | have shrunk |
Past
| I | shrank; shrunk |
| you | shrank; shrunk |
| he;she;it | shrank; shrunk |
| we | shrank; shrunk |
| you | shrank; shrunk |
| they | shrank; shrunk |
Pluperfect
| I | had shrunk |
| you | had shrunk |
| he;she;it | had shrunk |
| we | had shrunk |
| you | had shrunk |
| they | had shrunk |
Future
| I | will shrink |
| you | will shrink |
| he;she;it | will shrink |
| we | will shrink |
| you | will shrink |
| they | will shrink |
Future Perfect
| I | will have shrunk |
| you | will have shrunk |
| he;she;it | will have shrunk |
| we | will have shrunk |
| you | will have shrunk |
| they | will have shrunk |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | shrink |
| you | shrink |
| he;she;it | shrink |
| we | shrink |
| you | shrink |
| they | shrink |
Perfect
| I | have shrunk |
| you | have shrunk |
| he;she;it | have shrunk |
| we | have shrunk |
| you | have shrunk |
| they | have shrunk |
Imperfect
| I | shrank; shrunk |
| you | shrank; shrunk |
| he;she;it | shrank; shrunk |
| we | shrank; shrunk |
| you | shrank; shrunk |
| they | shrank; shrunk |
Pluperfect
| I | had shrunk |
| you | had shrunk |
| he;she;it | had shrunk |
| we | had shrunk |
| you | had shrunk |
| they | had shrunk |
Conditional
Present
| I | would shrink |
| you | would shrink |
| he;she;it | would shrink |
| we | would shrink |
| you | would shrink |
| they | would shrink |
Perfect
| I | would have shrunk |
| you | would have shrunk |
| he;she;it | would have shrunk |
| we | would have shrunk |
| you | would have shrunk |
| they | would have shrunk |
Imperative
| you | shrink |
| we | Let's shrink |
| you | shrink |
Verbs similar to 'shrink'
shink,
shrine,
chink,
drink,
prink,
shank,
shin,
shine,
shirk,
shlick,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to withdraw from a position
- back away, back down, balk, beat a retreat, bug out, crawfish, decline, draw back, fall back, pull out, recede, regrade, retire, retreat, retrograde, revert, sound a retreat, turn tail, withdraw
- to become smaller
- decrease, diminish, drop, fall, go down, lessen, reduce, sink
- cringe
- recoil, withdraw, shudder, wince, flinch, demur, retreat, refuse
- shrivel
- decrease, reduce, diminish, constrict, dwindle, lessen, wither, wane
Antonyms
- shrivel
- unfold, expand, spread, dilate
Additional Information
The form where the 'i' in the stem is replaced with 'u' is used in American English.
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. O.E.
scrincan (class III strong verb; past tense
scranc, pp.
scruncen), from P.Gmc.
*skrenkanan (cf. M.Du.
schrinken), probably from PIE base
*(s)ker- "to turn, bend." Originally with causal
shrench (cf.
drink/drench). The meaning "draw back, recoil" (c.1300) perhaps was suggested by the behavior of snails. The slang sense of "psychiatrist" is first recorded 1966, from
head-shrinker (1950).
Shrink-wrap is attested from 1961.
2. From Middle English schrynken, from Old English sċrincan, from Proto-Germanic *skrinkwaną. Cognate with Dutch schrinken (“to shrink”).
3. The sense “psychologist, psychotherapist” is a clipping of head-shrinker. See: Middle English '
schrynken', Proto-Germanic '
*skrinkwaną', Dutch '
schrinken'.
Verbs referencing "shrink"
Dutch
schrinken.
Sample Sentences
-
Each cell door on this side has a square aperture in it. Some of the women peep anxiously through it at the sound of footsteps; others shrink away in shame.—For what offence can that lonely child, of ten or twelve years old, be shut up here ? Oh! that boy? He is the son of the prisoner we saw just now; is a witness against his father; [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
[...] an hour or two, I felt that I would have given the world for a crooked street. The collar of my coat appeared to stiffen, and the brim of my hat to expand, beneath its quakery influence. My hair shrunk into a sleek short crop, my hands folded themselves upon my breast of their own calm accord, and thoughts of taking lodgings in Mark Lane over against the Market Place, and of making a large fortune [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
[...] or at a show of beasts:—do we not know that that man, whenever his wrath is kindled up, will be a brutal savage ? Do we not know that as he is a coward in his domestic life, stalking among his shrinking men and women slaves armed with his heavy whip, so he will be a coward out of doors, and carrying cowards ’ weapons hidden in his breast, will shoot men down and stab them when he quarrels ? And if [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
[...] are in question ? Shall we cry shame on the brutality of those who hamstring cattle: and spare the lights of Freedom upon earth who notch the ears of men and women, cut pleasant posies in the shrinking flesh, learn to write with pens of red-hot iron on the human face, rack their poetic fancies for liveries of mutilation which their slaves shall wear for life and carry to the grave, breaking living [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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[...] stimulated, by the society of her young cousin, to exertions beyond her strength, began to fail rapidly. St. Clare was at last willing to call in medical advice,—a thing from which he had always shrunk, because it was the admission of an unwelcome truth. ~~~ But, for a day or two, Eva was so unwell as to be confined to the house; and the doctor was called.
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
[...] Clare had never pretended to govern himself by any religious obligation; and a certain fineness of nature gave him such an instinctive view of the extent of the requirements of Christianity, that he shrank, by anticipation, from what he felt would be the exactions of his own conscience, if he once did resolve to assume them. For, so inconsistent is human nature, especially in the ideal, that not to [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
[...] upon them ? Shall the doors of churches and school-houses be shut upon them ? Shall states arise and shake them out ? Shall the church of Christ hear in silence the taunt that is thrown at them, and shrink away from the helpless hand that they stretch out; and, by her silence, encourage the cruelty that would chase them from our borders ? If it must be so, it will be a mournful spectacle. If it must [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
what power do I choose ? Maybe the latest one I discovered, shrinking.
(Super-Charlie)