verb

1. To cause to become smaller.

   “The dryer shrank my sweater.”

2. To become smaller; to contract.

   “This garment will shrink when wet.”

3. To cower or flinch.

   “Molly shrank away from the blows of the whip.”

Synonyms: funk, shirk, retreat, shrink back

noun

1. The act of one who, or that which, shrinks; act of becoming smaller or moving timidly away.