Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Shrink \Shrink\, v. i. [imp. {Shrank}or {Shrunk}p. p. {Shrunk}
   or {Shrunken}, but the latter is now seldom used except as a
   participial adjective; p. pr. & vb. n. {Shrinking}.] [OE.
   shrinken, schrinken, AS. scrincan; akin to OD. schrincken,
   and probably to Sw. skrynka a wrinkle, skrynkla to wrinkle,
   to rumple, and E. shrimp, n. & v., scrimp. CF. {Shrimp}.]
   1. To wrinkle, bend, or curl; to shrivel; hence, to contract
      into a less extent or compass; to gather together; to
      become compacted.

            And on a broken reed he still did stay His feeble
            steps, which shrunk when hard thereon he lay.
                                                  --Spenser.

            I have not found that water, by mixture of ashes,
            will shrink or draw into less room.   --Bacon.

            Against this fire do I shrink up.     --Shak.

            And shrink like parchment in consuming fire.
                                                  --Dryden.

            All the boards did shrink.            --Coleridge.

   2. To withdraw or retire, as from danger; to decline action
      from fear; to recoil, as in fear, horror, or distress.

            What happier natures shrink at with affright, The
            hard inhabitant contends is right.    --Pope.

            They assisted us against the Thebans when you shrank
            from the task.                        --Jowett
                                                  (Thucyd.)

   3. To express fear, horror, or pain by contracting the body,
      or part of it; to shudder; to quake. [R.] --Shak.

Shrink \Shrink\, n.
   The act shrinking; shrinkage; contraction; also, recoil;
   withdrawal.

         Yet almost wish, with sudden shrink, That I had less to
         praise.                                  --Leigh Hunt.

Shrink \Shrink\, v. t.
   1. To cause to contract or shrink; as, to shrink finnel by
      imersing it in boiling water.

   2. To draw back; to withdraw. [Obs.]

            The Libyc Hammon shrinks his horn.    --Milton.

   {To shrink on} (Mach.), to fix (one piece or part) firmly
      around (another) by natural contraction in cooling, as a
      tire on a wheel, or a hoop upon a cannon, which is made
      slightly smaller than the part it is to fit, and expanded
      by heat till it can be slipped into place.

Source : WordNet®

shrink
     n : a physician who specializes in psychiatry [syn: {psychiatrist},
          {head-shrinker}]
     v 1: wither, especially with a loss of moisture; "The fruit dried
          and shriveled" [syn: {shrivel}, {shrivel up}, {wither}]
     2: draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they
        showed the slaughtering of the calf" [syn: {flinch}, {squinch},
         {funk}, {cringe}, {wince}, {recoil}, {quail}]
     3: reduce in size; reduce physically; "Hot water will shrink
        the sweater"; "Can you shrink this image?" [syn: {reduce}]
     4: become smaller or draw together; "The fabric shrank"; "The
        balloon shrank" [syn: {contract}] [ant: {expand}, {stretch}]
     5: decrease in size, range, or extent; "His earnings shrank";
        "My courage shrivelled when I saw the task before me"
        [syn: {shrivel}]
     [also: {shrunken}, {shrunk}, {shrank}]