Shrinking
[ʃrɪŋk]
Definition
(noun.) the act of becoming less.
(noun.) process or result of becoming less or smaller; 'the material lost 2 inches per yard in shrinkage'.
Edited by Adrian--From WordNet
Definition
(p. pr. & vb. n.) of Shrink
(-) a. & n. from Shrink.
Checked by Basil
Examples
- The duties of her married life, contemplated as so great beforehand, seemed to be shrinking with the furniture and the white vapor-walled landscape. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Do not mind shrinking openly from me, lady. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Shrinking to the furthest corner of the seat, he demanded to know what they wanted there. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- I don't know what you mean,' said Pleasant, shrinking a step back. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- To her parents she never talked about this matter, shrinking from baring her heart to them. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Each lady contributor takes it in her turn to keep the basket a month, to sew for it, and to foist off its contents on a shrinking male public. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- He had again moved toward the door, and in her instinctive shrinking from him she let him regain command of the threshold. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- But Archer had found himself held fast by habit, by memories, by a sudden startled shrinking from new things. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- I fancy, said Estella, shrinking that must be a curious place. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- There you were, Lina, at the casement, shrinking a little to one side in an attitude not unusual with you. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The shrinking pit for assembling is situated between the heating furnace and oil tank. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- It was no longer, however, from the vision of material poverty that she turned with the greatest shrinking. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- It was a dreadful hour--an hour from which she emerged shrinking and seared, as though her lids had been scorched by its actual glare. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Oldacre gave an uneasy laugh, shrinking back from the furious red face of the angry detective. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- There had been something so tremendous in the shrinking off of the three, that the wretched man was willing to propitiate even this lad. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
Typed by Carlyle