▪ I. ˈshrinking, vbl. n.
[f. shrink v. + -ing1.]
1. Contraction and reduction in size or volume through the action of heat, cold, or moisture; the drawing up or withering (of sinews, etc.).
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. de P.R. v. xii. (Tollem. MS.), By reuelynge and scherenkynge..of þe synew of felynge. Ibid. xviii. xxxix. (1495) 801 Shryngynge of synewes. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 449/1 Schrynkynge, rigiditas. 1670 Boyle in Phil. Trans. V. 2046 The Bladder, whose regular Intumescencies and shrinkings sufficiently manifested, that the vessel..did not leak. 1671 Woodhead St. Teresa i. xxxiii. 231 That shrinking up of all my sinnews. 1679 Alsop Melius Inq. Introd. 22 We must allow for shrinking in the Silk-grograin Phrase of Rhetoricians. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 110 Except what it [corn] loseth in the first Year's shrinking, and loss of Weight. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 324 The regular shrinking of clay by heat. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 635 Coldness and shrinking of the extremities. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. viii. 264 Successive shrinkings [of a glacier]..have occurred at intervals of centuries. |
b. (See shrink v. 10 b.)
| 1856 Miss Warner Hills Shatemuc xii, They [socks] wouldn't want shrinking. |
2. Physical, mental, or moral recoiling from a burden, danger, etc.
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Affaissement..a shrinking vnder a great burthen. 1611 Cotgr. Tergiversation,..a flinching..or shrinking backe. 1663 J. Spencer Prodigies (1665) 234 A kind of prodigious shrinking of the Eye of Heaven from the view of so black a wickedness. 1782 Cowper Poet. etc. 66 His censure reach'd them as he dealt it, And each by shrinking show'd he felt it. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxv, [She] never mentioned her name but with a shrinking and terror. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. (1858) 509 Not without some craven shrinkings. 1882 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 137 There was no shrinking here from a full declaration of the Royal Supremacy. |
| attrib. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xxvii, One shrinking motion, one stifled scream. |
† 3. Shrugging (of the shoulders). Obs.
| 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 293 The shrinking up of the shoulders..is a gesture belonging to a base, servile, and craftie knave. |
4. Estrangement. (Cf. next 2 a.)
| 1842 Manning Serm. i. (1848) 13 The sins of the heathen world..began in a shrinking of the heart from God. |
▪ II. ˈshrinking, ppl. a.
[-ing2.]
1. That shrinks, contracts, is reduced in size or volume, or is withered or shrivelled. Also fig.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1857 Schalkes they schotte thrughe schrenkande maylez. 1583 Burgh. Rec. Edin. (1882) IV. 277 Yorkschyre clayth, cairsayes, and all sort of schrynking clayth. 1631 J. Anchoran Comenius' Gate Tongues 31 Pandus Asellus..The shrinking or crooked little asse. 1805 Cary Dante, Inf. xxv. 57 Thus up the shrinking paper, ere it burns, A brown tint glides. 1883 Daily News 3 Oct. 2/5 Reports of shrinking prices in China. |
2. † a. Rebelling (against God); backsliding.
| 1535 Coverdale Isa. xxx. 1 Wo be to those shrenkinge children..which seke councel, but not at me. 1535 ― Jer. ix. 2 They be all aduoutrers and a shrenckinge sorte. Ibid. xxxi. 22 How longe wilt thou go astraie, o thou shrenkinge [1560 Geneva rebellious] doughter? 1564 Brief Exam. **iiij b, The shrinking & refusing Ministers of London. [1565 J. Hall Crt. Vertue 63 Adulterers because they be And eke a shrynkyng sorte.] |
b. Recoiling physically, mentally, or morally from what is difficult or distasteful; retiring.
| 1742 C. Wesley Hymn, ‘Come, O thou Traveller unknown’, What though my shrinking flesh complain. 1810 Southey Kehama xiv. xiv, The flames, which..seem'd to dart Their hungry tongues toward their shrinking prey. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxvi, She..made a shrinking, but amicable, salutation to Major Dobbin. 1875 Manning Miss. Holy Ghost x. 263 If the will be soft, shrinking, inconstant, and cowardly. 1891 Meredith One of our Conq. xxx, Her mother's shrinking distaste from any such hectic themes as this. |
† c. shrinking shrub: the sensitive plant.
| 1640 Parkinson Theat. Bot. 1618, Stirpanimans seu Frutex impatiens, The shrinking shrubbe. 1659 R. Lovell Herbal 524 Shrinking shrub, Herba impatiens. |
d. shrinking violet, a shy or modest person.
| 1915 N. L. McClung In Times like These vi. 83 Voting will not be compulsory; the shrinking violets will not be torn from their shady fence-corner; the ‘home bodies’ will be able to still sit in rapt contemplation of their own fireside. 1949 E. Coxhead Wind in West iii. 83 You believe in the shrinking-violet technique, do you? 1966 R. Severn Desperate Rendezvous viii. 70 ‘Time will convince you both how indispensable I have been...’ Wilson scowled. ‘A real shrinking violet, aren't you?’ he said. 1976 Listener 22 July 90/1 Frayn has not forgotten the underdog... The shrinking violet (as he rightly recognizes) is the most dangerous plant in the glades of privilege. |
† 3. Shivering, shuddering. Obs.
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. iv. 30 The shrinking Slaues of Winter. |
Hence ˈshrinkingly adv., in a shrinking manner, with a shrinking look, in a manner expressive of unwillingness, dislike, shyness, etc.; ˈshrinkingness (rare).
| 1817 Moore Lalla Rookh, Veiled Prophet ii. 235 Her left hand, as shrinkingly she stood, Held a small lute. 1835 J. P. Kennedy Horseshoe Robinson liii. (1860) 549 That feminine reserve and shrinkingness which we are wont to praise. 1851 G. W. Curtis Nile Notes xxxv. 176 There was no light..except what curious daylight stole shrinkingly in at the low door. 1858 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 47 When I peep shrinkingly from my study-windows. 1884 Liverpool Merc. 18 Feb. 5/2 Lord Salisbury and Sir Stafford Northcote appeal shrinkingly and indirectly for the reversion of the trust. |