from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. The process of shrinking.
- n. The amount or proportion by which something shrinks.
- n. A reduction in value; depreciation.
- n. The total weight loss sustained by livestock in shipment to a market.
- n. Loss of merchandise, especially through theft.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. The act of shrinking, or the proportion by which something shrinks.
- n. The loss of merchandise through theft.
- n. The reduction in size of the male genitalia following immersion in cold water
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. The act of shrinking; a contraction into less bulk or measurement.
- n. The amount of such contraction; the bulk or dimension lost by shrinking, as of grain, castings, etc.
- n. Decrease in value; depreciation.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The contraction of a material to a smaller surface or bulk, whether by cooling after being heated, as a metal, or by drying, as timber or clay, or by wetting, as cord or fabrics.
- n. Figuratively, a similar reduction of any kind, as loss of weight; especially, loss of value: as, shrinkage in real estate.
- n. Amount of diminution of surface or bulk, weight or value: as, the shrinkage of cast-iron by cooling is one eighth of an inch to a foot; the shrinkage on the goods was 10 per cent.
- n. In gunnery, the difference between the outside diameter of the inner cylinder and the inside diameter of the outer cylinder of a built-up gun.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. process or result of becoming less or smaller
- n. the act of stealing goods that are on display in a store
- n. the amount by which something shrinks
Sorry, no etymologies found.
With the lake less 16 feet at its deepest, or about half its depth when the decline began in 1977, the shrinkage is affecting the local economy.
With the lake now less 16 feet at its deepest, or about half its depth when the decline began in 1977, the shrinkage is affecting the local economy.
Here are NASA images of the polar ice cap in 1979 and 2003: The massive shrinkage is obvious.
Ghost, you said it, ground shrinkage is particularly bad with this 'species.'
Be sure to get 500 mcg B12, 800 mcg folic acid, 20 mg B6 a day -- doses found to reduce brain shrinkage up to 50 percent in people with mild memory problems.
Best be careful: a study at Oxford University has revealed that people on a meat-free diet are six times more likely to suffer brain shrinkage as they age because of a lack of Vitamin B12, which is most easily obtained by eating meat.
WASHINGTON — Democrats' Senate majority faces a midterm shrinkage Tuesday, a further complication for President Barack Obama's agenda, even if Republicans fall short of seizing control of the 100-member chamber.
For older Americans, reversal of the brain shrinkage that occurs as people age is just one benefit of greater physical activity, according to research published in the latest issue of the Journal of Gerontology -- Medical Sciences (Vol. 61A, No. 11).
Via WorldChanging comes this fascinating interview with Amory Lovins in which he points out that by increasing our energy efficiency over the last 25 year the amount of energy used per GDP has shrank by 40%, and that shrinkage is our biggest source of energy!
The long-term shrinkage in the average cotton sheet will be about 5 percent, which works out to about five inches in a 108-inch sheet.