The meaning of Shrinking

verb

Shorten (a word, phrase, or text).

Usage examples:

‘network’ is often abbreviated to ‘net’

verb

To shorten a word or words, or to make something shorter

Usage examples:

We had to abbreviate the names of the states., an abbreviated version was published last year.

phrasal verb

Make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity

phrasal verb

To move backwards away from something or someone, usually because you are frightened

Usage examples:

She saw that he had a gun and backed away., the government has backed away from plans to increase t…

phrasal verb

To show that you do not support a plan or idea any longer and do not want to be involved with it

Usage examples:

The government has backed away from plans to increase taxes.

verb

Make a sudden flinching movement out of fear or pain.

Usage examples:

He blenched and struggled to regain his composure

verb

Make (something) denser or more concentrated.

Usage examples:

The morning play on saturday was condensed into a half-hour package

noun

A written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law.

Usage examples:

He has just signed a contract keeping him with the club

verb

Decrease in size, number, or range.

Usage examples:

Glass contracts as it cools

noun

A legal document that states and explains a formal agreement between two different people or groups, or the agreement itself

Usage examples:

She already has a contract for her next book with a publisher., i have no other contractual obligat…

verb

Crouch down in fear.

Usage examples:

Children cowered in terror as the shoot-out erupted

verb

Bend one's head and body in fear or apprehension or in a servile manner.

Usage examples:

He cringed away from the blow

noun

An act of cringing.

Usage examples:

The chuckle turned into a cringe as i swung a little, due to the movement caused by my laughter.

verb

To feel embarrassed and ashamed about something

Usage examples:

I cringed when i realized what i’d said., he cringes every time he hears the dentist’s drill.

verb

(typically of something regarded as good) become smaller, fewer, or less; decrease.

Usage examples:

The birth rate continued to decline

noun

A gradual and continuous loss of strength, numbers, quality, or value.

Usage examples:

A serious decline in bird numbers

verb

To go down in amount or quality; lessen or weaken

Usage examples:

His interest in the project declined after his wife died., her health declined quickly., [ t ] she …

verb

Make or become smaller or fewer in size, amount, intensity, or degree.

Usage examples:

The population of the area has decreased radically

noun

An instance or example of becoming smaller or fewer.

Usage examples:

A decrease in births

verb

To become smaller or make something less

Usage examples:

[ i ] car sales decreased sharply this year., i haven’t noticed any decrease in ticket sales.

verb

Let air or gas out of (a tyre, balloon, or similar object).

Usage examples:

He deflated one of the tyres

verb

To allow air or gas to escape from within a container

Usage examples:

[ t ] when the roads are icy, you may have to deflate your tires a bit., [ t ] the allegations defl…

verb

When an economy deflates or is deflated, prices fall and there is a reduction in wages and government spending, and low levels of growth

Usage examples:

The chancellor will have to keep rates high and deflate the economy to keep the lid on prices and f…

verb

Make or become less.

Usage examples:

The new law is expected to diminish the government's chances

verb

To reduce or be reduced in size or importance

Usage examples:

[ i ] the threat of inflation is diminishing., [ t ] a single-payer system would diminish the burea…

verb

To reduce or be reduced in size, importance, or value

Usage examples:

If consumers start losing confidence, it will diminish demand for household goods., investors can d…

verb

Diminish gradually in size, amount, or strength.

Usage examples:

Traffic has dwindled to a trickle

verb

To become less in number or smaller

Usage examples:

The community had dwindled to a tenth of its former size.

verb

To gradually become less, smaller, or lower in level

Usage examples:

Dwindle from sth to sth the municipality's population has dwindled from 40,000 to 24,000., dwindlin…

phrasal verb

Come off

phrasal verb

To become less in number, amount, or quality

Usage examples:

Production fell off last month.

phrasal verb

To get lower in amount or level

Usage examples:

Orders have definitely fallen off in the past quarter., a fall-off in sth the company blamed the fa…

verb

Make a quick, nervous movement as an instinctive reaction to fear, pain, or surprise.

Usage examples:

She flinched at the acidity in his voice

noun

An act of flinching.

Usage examples:

‘don't call me that,’ he said with a flinch

verb

Draw back, as with fear or pain

verb

Make or become less; diminish.

Usage examples:

The years have lessened the gap in age between us

verb

To become or make something smaller in amount or degree

Usage examples:

[ t ] keeping your weight down can lessen the risk of heart disease.

verb

To make something smaller, less noticeable, etc., or to become smaller, less noticeable, etc.

Usage examples:

Corporate executives are keen to embrace "green technology" in order to lessen their dependence on …

adjective

Of small width in relation to length.

Usage examples:

He made his way down the narrow road

verb

Become or make less wide.

Usage examples:

The road narrowed and crossed an old bridge

noun

A narrow channel connecting two larger areas of water.

Usage examples:

There was a car ferry across the narrows of loch long

noun

A small short-tailed old world game bird resembling a tiny partridge, typically having brown camouflaged plumage.

Usage examples:

Birds such as grouse, crows, quail, partridge, nightjars, cuckoos, shrikes, larks, pipits, merlins,…

verb

Feel or show fear or apprehension.

Usage examples:

She quailed at his heartless words

noun

A small brown bird with a short tail, sometimes hunted as a sport and eaten as a food

verb

Suddenly spring or flinch back in fear, horror, or disgust.

Usage examples:

He recoiled in horror

noun

The action of recoiling.

Usage examples:

His body jerked with the recoil of the rifle

verb

To make a sudden movement away from something esp. because of fear or disgust

Usage examples:

Fig. sun-worshipers might recoil in horror at the chilling winds and rough seas, but we loved the p…

verb

Make smaller or less in amount, degree, or size.

Usage examples:

The need for businesses to reduce costs

verb

Make smaller

verb

To make something less in size, amount, degree, importance, or price

Usage examples:

A low-fat diet can reduce the risk of heart disease., grunn employs 17,900 people, but that number …

verb

(of an army) withdraw from enemy forces as a result of their superior power or after a defeat.

Usage examples:

The french retreated in disarray

noun

An act of moving back or withdrawing.

Usage examples:

A speedy retreat

verb

The act of withdrawing or going backward

verb

Make or become shorter.

Usage examples:

He shortened his stride

verb

Make short or shorter

verb

To make something shorter in length, distance, or height

Usage examples:

I’d like to have this jacket shortened by about two inches., a high school knee injury probably sho…

verb

Wrinkle and contract or cause to wrinkle and contract, especially due to loss of moisture.

Usage examples:

The flowers simply shrivelled up

verb

To become dried out and smaller, appearing crushed or folded, or to make something do this

Usage examples:

[ t ] the hot sun shriveled the flowers i put in the window.

adjective

(of a person or their build) gracefully thin; slender.

Usage examples:

Her slim figure

verb

Make oneself thinner, especially by dieting.

Usage examples:

If he's overweight, he should slim

noun

A course or period of slimming.

Usage examples:

A sponsored slim

verb

Begin or be reckoned from a particular point in time or space.

Usage examples:

The season starts in september

noun

The point in time or space at which something has its origin; the beginning.

Usage examples:

He takes over as chief executive at the start of next year

abbreviation

Strategic arms reduction treaty, an agreement between the us and the soviet union to limit and reduce strategic nuclear weapons, first signed in 1991.

verb

Shorten the duration or extent of.

Usage examples:

He was a sensational player whose career was truncated by injuries

adjective

(of a leaf, feather, or other part) ending abruptly as if cut off across the base or tip.

Usage examples:

The ends are usually acute or obtuse, but sometimes also fish tail-like, truncate or vague.

verb

To make something shorter or quicker, especially by removing the end of it

Usage examples:

Television coverage of the event was truncated by a technical fault.

verb

Make a slight involuntary grimace or shrinking movement of the body out of pain or distress.

Usage examples:

He winced at the disgust in her voice

noun

An instance of wincing.

Usage examples:

At the touch of his hand, there was a slight wince of pain.

noun

A roller for moving textile fabric through a dyeing vat.

Usage examples:

The hengst was fitted on one side with a wooden winch, the ‘wince’, and could be fastened to the si…

verb

Remove or take away (something) from a particular place or position.

Usage examples:

Ruth withdrew her hand from his

verb

Pull back or move away or backward

verb

To take something back, or to remove something

Usage examples:

[ t ] he asked that his name be withdrawn from nomination for a golden globe award., [ t ] democrat…

verb

(of a plant) become dry and shrivelled.

Usage examples:

The grass had withered to an unappealing brown

verb

To become, or cause something to become, weak, dry, and smaller

Usage examples:

[ t ] hot, dry weather withered the peanut crop in the southeast., [ i ] fig. public interest in th…