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shrivelled |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Shrivel \Shriv"el\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Shriveled}or {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 From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: shrivelled adj 1: (used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture; "dried-up grass"; "the desert was edged with sere vegetation"; "shriveled leaves on the unwatered seedlings"; "withered vines" [syn: {dried-up}, {sere}, {sear}, {shriveled}, {withered}] 2: lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness; "the old woman's shriveled skin"; "he looked shriveled and ill"; "a shrunken old man"; "a lanky scarecrow of a man with withered face and lantern jaws"-W.F.Starkie; "he did well despite his withered arm"; "a wizened little man with frizzy gray hair" [syn: {shriveled}, {shrunken}, {withered}, {wizen}, {wizened}] 3: reduced in efficacy or vitality or intensity; "our shriveled receipts during the storm"; "as the project wore on she found her enthusiasm shriveled"; "the dollar's shrunken buying power" [syn: {shriveled}, {shrunken}]
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