Link Centre Dictionary

shrivel

shri·vel

UK/ˈʃɹɪvəl/ US/ˈʃrɪvʌl/ uncommon

verb

1.

wither, especially with a loss of moisture

  • “The fruit dried and shriveled”
Synonyms
2.

decrease in size, range, or extent

  • “His earnings shrank”
  • “My courage shrivelled when I saw the task before me”
Synonyms

Origin

First recorded as shriveled (“shrivelled”), probably of North Germanic origin related to dialectal Swedish skryvla (“to wrinkle, shrivel”); perhaps ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *skrinkwaną (“to shrivel, shrink”) or *skrimpaną (“to shrink”).

Phrases

  • shrivel up

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.