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shrunkenmore about shrunken

shrunken

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Shrink  \Shrink\,  v.  i.  [imp.  {Shrank}or  {Shrunk}p.  p.  {Shrunk} 
  or  {Shrunken},  but  the  latter  is  now  seldom  used  except  as  a 
  participial  adjective;  p.  pr  &  vb  n.  {Shrinking}.]  [OE. 
  shrinken,  schrinken  AS  scrincan  akin  to  OD  schrincken 
  and  probably  to  Sw  skrynka  a  wrinkle,  skrynkla  to  wrinkle, 
  to  rumple,  and  E.  shrimp,  n.  &  v.,  scrimp.  CF  {Shrimp}.] 
  1.  To  wrinkle,  bend,  or  curl;  to  shrivel;  hence  to  contract 
  into  a  less  extent  or  compass;  to  gather  together;  to 
  become  compacted. 
 
  And  on  a  broken  reed  he  still  did  stay  His  feeble 
  steps,  which  shrunk  when  hard  thereon  he  lay. 
  --Spenser. 
 
  I  have  not  found  that  water,  by  mixture  of  ashes, 
  will  shrink  or  draw  into  less  room  --Bacon. 
 
  Against  this  fire  do  I  shrink  up  --Shak. 
 
  And  shrink  like  parchment  in  consuming  fire. 
  --Dryden. 
 
  All  the  boards  did  shrink.  --Coleridge. 
 
  2.  To  withdraw  or  retire,  as  from  danger;  to  decline  action 
  from  fear;  to  recoil,  as  in  fear,  horror,  or  distress. 
 
  What  happier  natures  shrink  at  with  affright,  The 
  hard  inhabitant  contends  is  right  --Pope. 
 
  They  assisted  us  against  the  Thebans  when  you  shrank 
  from  the  task.  --Jowett 
  (Thucyd.) 
 
  3.  To  express  fear,  horror,  or  pain  by  contracting  the  body, 
  or  part  of  it  to  shudder;  to  quake.  [R.]  --Shak. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Shrunken  \Shrunk"en\, 
  p.  p.  &  a.  from  {Shrink}. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  shrunken 
  adj  1:  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},  {shrivelled}, 
  {withered},  {wizen},  {wizened}] 
  2:  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},  {shrivelled}] 
  3:  reduced  in  size  by  being  drawn  together;  "the  shrunken  dress 
  was  entirely  too  tight  to  wear"  [syn:  {shrunk}]




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