different between shrink vs slacken
shrink
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)
- (transitive) To cause to become smaller.
- (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.
- (intransitive) To cower or flinch.
- (transitive) To draw back; to withdraw.
- (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.
- 1881, Benjamin Jowett (translator), Thucydides
- (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)
- Shrinkage; contraction; recoil.
- (slang, sometimes derogatory) A psychiatrist or psychotherapist.
- Synonym: head-shrinker
- (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.
- 2011, Charles Sennewald & John Christman, Retail Crime, Security, and Loss Prevention: An Encyclopedic Reference, p. 227:
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.
shrink From the web:
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- what shrinks
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slacken
English
Etymology
From Middle English slakenen, equivalent to slack +? -en.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?slæ.k?n/
- Rhymes: -æk?n
Verb
slacken (third-person singular simple present slackens, present participle slackening, simple past and past participle slackened)
- (intransitive) To gradually decrease in intensity or tautness; to become slack.
- The pace slackened.
- 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows:
- He seemed tired, and the Rat let him rest unquestioned, understanding something of what was in his thoughts; knowing, too, the value all animals attach at times to mere silent companionship, when the weary muscles slacken and the mind marks time.
- (transitive) To make slack, less taut, or less intense.
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I:
- During this interlude, Warwick, though he had slackened his pace measurably, had so nearly closed the gap between himself and them as to hear the old woman say, with the dulcet negro intonation: […]
- 1986, Mari Sandoz, The Horsecatcher:
- Elk slackened the rope so he could walk farther away, and together they went awkwardly up the trail toward the grassy little flat...
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I:
- To deprive of cohesion by combining chemically with water; to slake.
- to slacken lime
Related terms
- slack
- slacker
Translations
Anagrams
- cankles, snackle
slacken From the web:
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- what does slackened mean
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- what does slacken off mean
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