different between shrink vs curtail

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

Alteration of curtal, from Old French courtault (“which has been shortened”), itself from court (“short”) (from Latin curtus) + -ault

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k???te?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /k??te?l/
• Rhymes: -e?l

Verb

curtail (third-person singular simple present curtails, present participle curtailing, simple past and past participle curtailed)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To cut short the tail of an animal

   Curtailing horses procured long horse-hair.

2. (transitive) To shorten or abridge the duration of something; to truncate.

   When the audience grew restless, the speaker curtailed her speech.

3. (transitive, figuratively) To limit or restrict, keep in check.
   • 2018, "Israeli gov't is trying to defund +972 Magazine, report says", +972 Magazine:

Synonyms

• (animal's tail): crop, dock
• (shorten): abbreviate, shorten; See also Thesaurus:shorten
• (limit): behedge, control, limit, restrain; See also Thesaurus:curb

Derived terms

• curtailer
• curtailment

Related terms

• curt
• curtal

Translations

Noun

curtail (plural curtails)

1. (architecture) A scroll termination, as of a step, etc.

Anagrams

• trucial, urtical