shrinkage
/ʃɹˈɪŋkɪdʒ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.89 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The act of shrinking, or the proportion by which something shrinks.
Countable; Slang; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "How far progress has been made in liquidating the locomotive stock of the old companies may be judged from the shrinkage in their numbers, by some 50 per cent. at the end of 1931, to about 35 per cent. in 1938."
- "An emergency South Western Railway (SWR) timetable came into force on September 5, in response to the shrinkage of clay embankments on the nine miles between Gillingham and Tisbury. The shrinkage has been caused by the driest summer since 1936, with a severe 40mph speed restriction having to be imposed."
- "Do women know about shrinkage?"
- "This is why guys experience "shrinkage" after they've been swimming."
- "That'll get their blood flowing. ... getting the blood flowing coz just the mere thought of jumping into that icy water was starting to get the shrinkage going."
- "And of course, one of the most important questions of all, especially among male plungers, is, "What about shrinkage?!""
Etymology
Etymology tree English shrink Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Old French -agebor. Middle English -age English -age English shrinkage From shrink + -age.