different between prawn vs shrink

English

Etymology 1

First attested early 1400s as various Middle English forms prayne, prane, praune, and prawne, which present no clear cognates in languages other than English. The forms suggest a hypothetical Old English form *prægn, where *æg would have evolved into Middle English *ay, but it is unclear if the word is of Germanic origin, from another European language, or loaned from a substrate. In the Isle of Wight, a word prankle ("prawn") is recorded and thought to be related. Century, following Skeat, suggested transposition of an unrecorded Old French *parne, *perne related to Spanish perna (“a flat shellfish”), Old Italian perna and diminutive pernochie, parnocchie, glossed as "shrimps or prawne, fishes" by John Florio, but the OED considers Florio's entry incorrect and the suggested connection semantically and phonologically implausible.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p???n/
• (General Australian, General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /p?o?n/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /p??n/
• Rhymes: -??n

Noun

prawn (countable and uncountable, plural prawn or prawns)

1. A crustacean of the suborder Dendrobranchiata.
2. (Commonwealth of Nations) A crustacean, sometimes confused with shrimp.
3. (slang, derogatory) A woman with a very toned body, but an unattractive face.

   Synonyms: butterface, tip drill

4. (Australia) A fool, an idiot.

Derived terms

• Aesop prawn
• Alaskan prawn (Pandalus platyceros)
• banana prawn (Penaeidae spp.)
• come the raw prawn
• common prawn (Palaemon serratus)
• deep-sea prawn, deepwater prawn (Pandalus borealis)
• Dublin Bay prawn (Nephrops norvegicus)
• furrowed prawn (Penaeus latisulcatus)
• giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon)
• green prawn
• great northern prawn (Pandalus borealis)
• Indian prawn (Fenneropenaeus indicus)
• king prawn
• kuruma prawn (Marsupenaeus japonicus)
• long-clawed prawn (Palaemon australis)
• mantis prawn (Squilla)
• monsoon river prawn (Macrobrachium malcolmsonii)
• musical prawn (Penaeopsis novae-guineae)
• Oriental river prawn (Macrobrachium nipponense)
• Parktown prawn (Libanasidus vittatus)
• pistol prawn (Crangonidae spp.)
• queen prawn (Penaeidae spp.)
• river prawn (Palaemon australis)
• royal red prawn (Haliporoides sibogae)
• school prawn (Metapenaeus macleayi)
• snapping prawn (Crangonidae spp.)
• soldier prawn (Plesionka martia)
• spot prawn (Pandalus platyceros)
• tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon)

Translations

Verb

prawn (third-person singular simple present prawns, present participle prawning, simple past and past participle prawned)

1. (intransitive) To fish for prawns.

Etymology 2

Alternate spelling of pron (pronounced identically with cot-caught merger), which in turn is a corrupted spelling of porn.

Noun

prawn (plural prawns)

1. Alternative form of porn.

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
• Århammar, Nils (1986): Aspects of Language: Geolinguistics

English

Etymology

From Middle English shrinken, from Old English s?rincan, from Proto-Germanic *skrinkwan?. Cognate with Dutch schrinken (“to shrink”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?????k/
• Rhymes: -??k

Verb

shrink (third-person singular simple present shrinks, present participle shrinking, simple past shrank or shrunk, past participle shrunk or shrunken)

1. (transitive) To cause to become smaller.
2. (intransitive) To become smaller; to contract.
   • And shrink like parchment in consuming fire.

   • 2018, VOA Learning English > China's Melting Glacier Brings Visitors, Adds to Climate Concerns

     Since 1982, it has shrunk by 250 meters.

3. (intransitive) To cower or flinch.

4. (transitive) To draw back; to withdraw.
5. (intransitive, figuratively) To withdraw or retire, as from danger.
   • 1881, Benjamin Jowett (translator), Thucydides

     They assisted us against the Thebans when you shrank from the task.

6. (intransitive) To move back or away, especially because of fear or disgust.

Synonyms

• (avoid an unwanted task): funk, shirk
• (withdraw or retire, as from danger): shrink back, retreat

Antonyms

• (to cause to become smaller): expand, grow, enlarge, stretch
• (become smaller): expand, grow, enlarge, stretch

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

shrink (plural shrinks)

1. Shrinkage; contraction; recoil.
2. (slang, sometimes derogatory) A psychiatrist or psychotherapist.

   Synonym: head-shrinker

3. (uncountable, business) Loss of inventory, for example due to shoplifting or not selling items before their expiration date.
   • 2011, Charles Sennewald & John Christman, Retail Crime, Security, and Loss Prevention: An Encyclopedic Reference, p. 227:

     Assuming the retailer's shrink is average or below, and the owner is comfortable with the level of shrink, perhaps nothing more need be done except to maintain vigilance and to monitor the shrink for signs of emerging problems.

Usage notes

• (therapist): The slang sense was originally pejorative, expressing a distrust of practitioners in the field. It is now not as belittling or trivializing.

Translations

References

• shrink at OneLook Dictionary Search
• shrink in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.