Words / B2

SHRINGK/ʃrɪŋk/

To shrink is to become or make smaller, or to hold back from something: the roll will shrink; shrink from a task. Contract is the science twin; reduce is more deliberate. The sixth-form roll will shrink. Mix-up: shrunk / shrank are inflections; wrinkle is a fold in skin. Do not write shrink for “hide”.

Meaning

To become or make smaller; also to move back because you are afraid (shrink from).

Examples

• “The sixth-form roll will shrink if the bus route is cut, governors heard.”
• “Do not shrink from naming the limitation, which is the hold-back sense.”

Good to know

shrink by + amount; shrink from + gerund. Science: contract. Trap: wrinkle. Demography, fabrics, and orals. Get smaller, not disappear into hiding.

Near in meaning

contract

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