different between shrink vs abridge

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.

English

Etymology

• From Middle English abreggen (“curtail, lessen”), abregge, abrigge, from Old French abregier abreger, from Late Latin abbrevio (“make brief”), from ad- + br?vio (“shorten”).. Doublet of abbreviate.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??b??d??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??b??d??/
• Rhymes: -?d?
• Hyphenation: a?bridge

Verb

abridge (third-person singular simple present abridges, present participle abridging, simple past and past participle abridged)

1. (transitive, archaic) To deprive; to cut off. [First attested from around (1150 to 1350)]
2. (transitive, archaic, rare) To debar from. [First attested from around (1150 to 1350)]
3. (transitive) To make shorter; to shorten in duration or extent. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)]
   • 1639, Thomas Fuller, The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Book 2, Chapter 31, p. 85,^[1]

     She retired her self to Sebaste, and abridged her train from State to necessity.

   • 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, Chapter 86,^[2]

     The bridegroom, perceiving his condition, abridged the visit […]

4. (transitive) To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining the sense; to epitomize; to condense[First attested in 1384.]. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)]
   • 1911, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica - Johnson, Samuel

     It was still necessary for the man who had been formerly saluted by the highest authority as dictator of the English language to supply his wants by constant toil. He abridged his Dictionary. He proposed to bring out an edition of Shakespeare by subscription, and many subscribers sent in their names and laid down their money; but he soon found the task so little to his taste that he turned to more attractive employments.
5. (transitive) Cut short; truncate. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)]
6. (transitive) To curtail. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470)]

Usage notes

• (deprive): Usually used with to or sometimes with from as, to abridge someone of his rights.

Derived terms

• abridged
• abridger
• abridgement

Related terms

• unabridged

Translations

References

Anagrams

• bigrade, brigade