How to Use shrink in a Sentence

shrink

1 of 2 verb
  • The sweater shrank when it was washed.
  • The treatment should shrink the tumor.
  • Hot water shrank the sweater.
  • Meat shrinks as it cooks.
  • He shrank in horror when he saw the dead cat.
  • The town's population shrank during the war.
  • Both shrink when clients drift away.
    — Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
  • His lead had shrunk to just two shots.
    — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2026
  • Lean in, don't pull back, don't shrink.
    — Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
  • Even her eyes and nose seemed to grow and shrink.
    — Frances Wilson september 23, Literary Hub, 23 Sep. 2025
  • This will cause the large dome to shrink at first from the north.
    — Doyle Rice, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • The eye of that needle shrinks by the day.
    — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Stop shrinking to keep the peace.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Know that flannel sheets might shrink.
    — Sarah Lyon, The Spruce, 22 Feb. 2026
  • But shares in open float have been shrinking.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 Feb. 2026
  • But the gap has shrunk as the runoff has approached.
    — Thomas Beaumont, Fortune, 25 May 2026
  • Over time, that shift can shrink your offline world.
    — Kristin Stoller, Fortune, 28 Mar. 2026
  • Use it for small loads of clothing that won't shrink.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 5 Jan. 2026
  • You’re not meant to shrink; you’re meant to refine.
    — Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 9 Nov. 2025
  • If your org chart hasn't shrunk in two years, your leverage hasn't grown.
    — Gabriel Alin Zainescu, Forbes.com, 10 May 2026
  • The key is not shrinking in the presence of fire.
    — Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 29 Jan. 2026
  • But the researchers didn’t know what caused the cells to shrink in the first place.
    — Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 12 Jan. 2026
  • The fear often shrinks when it is stated out loud.
    — Mohamed Al Hashemi, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
  • The size of the earnings beats has been shrinking.
    — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2025
  • But as more baby boomers die, expect that to shrink too.
    — Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Some lakes and reservoirs have shrunk by as much as 90%.
    — Ariel Cohen, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
  • What item does Gabby use to shrink down to the size of a toy?
    — Marilyn La Jeunesse, Parents, 9 Apr. 2026
  • The outfield was shrunk, spicing up all games.
    — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Feb. 2026
  • The towel-like robe is soft on your skin and won’t shrink, stretch or fade over time.
    — Christopher Murray May Earn A Commission If You Buy Through Our Referral Links. This Content Was Created By A Team That Works Independently From The Fox Newsroom., FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Each evening, the gap between them shrinks slightly.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 25 May 2026

shrink

2 of 2 noun
  • He is seeing a shrink.
  • Guess that is all part of shrink-flation.
    — Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Sunday's race saw the field of 12 shrink down to eight.
    — Nelson Espinal, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025
  • So all of this goes into a store’s or a chain’s shrink level.
    — The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 25 Oct. 2023
  • The strapping is thin enough to flex which makes a nice smooth arch to shape the shrink wrap.
    — Popmech Editors, Popular Mechanics, 21 Nov. 2019
  • Theft of goods from sales floors is only one part of that seven cents of shrink.
    — Amanda Mull, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2021
  • Others will see their subsidy shrink.
    — Sarah D. Wire, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025
  • Any dime-store shrink will attest that humans learn abuse, they’re not born with it.
    — Tom Nunan, Forbes, 5 May 2021
  • Or how much the average person grows (or shrinks) at each age?
    — Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2023
  • As the Shrek firms grow, in other words, their hunting-ground shrinks.
    — The Economist, 6 Feb. 2020
  • As its habitat shrinks, so too do the cotton-top tamarin’s hopes for survival.
    — National Geographic, 30 Jan. 2020
  • That’s when growth plateaus, margins shrink, and frustration sets in.
    — Kirk W. McLaren, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
  • The stack of stuff is then shrink-wrapped and loaded onto a delivery truck.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 15 July 2021
  • But Piastri has seen his lead shrink in each of the last three race weekends.
    — Luke Smith, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Which means the county, and others like it, see their potential tax base shrink.
    — John Archibald | [email protected], al, 6 Oct. 2019
  • Colored or black shrink pallet wrap is not recyclable, so brands should avoid those types.
    — Amelia Arvesen, Outside Online, 4 Oct. 2019
  • Even so, all three companies saw traffic shrink during the first three months of the year.
    — Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 11 May 2026
  • Ford is under pressure to cut costs as profit shrinks and its share price remains stuck near a decade low.
    — Nick Kostov, WSJ, 8 Oct. 2018
  • And when warning times shrink, families are put in danger.
    — Matthew Kelly april 22, Kansas City Star, 22 Apr. 2026
  • The color is also anti-fade, and won’t stain, shrink, or wrinkle.
    — Stephanie Osmanski, Better Homes & Gardens, 15 Aug. 2025
  • The narrator quits his job, fires his shrink, and sets off on a road trip, just as Acosta did.
    — Abby Aguirre, The New Yorker, 13 July 2021
  • The big shrink raised EPS by around one-third over that period.
    — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 30 June 2020
  • Carrying bear spray in grizzly country and making noise on the trail shrink even that.
    — John Drake, Forbes.com, 14 June 2026
  • As the prices climb, the pool of individuals who can afford teams on their own shrinks.
    — Evan Drellich, New York Times, 27 May 2026
  • Target said last month that its shrink rate this year will be below pre-pandemic levels.
    — Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2025
  • India has a young, vast work force that is expanding as China's ages and shrinks.
    — Time, 28 July 2023
  • India has a young, vast work force that is expanding as China’s ages and shrinks.
    — Alex Travelli, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2023
  • Polar bears are spending more and more time on land, Abrahms said, as their hunting grounds on the ice shrink.
    — Nidhi Sharma, NBC News, 7 Feb. 2023
  • Many Americans are seeing decades’ worth of savings shrink, week by week.
    — Akane Otani, WSJ, 13 Nov. 2022
  • And the likelihood of off-schedule plays being made also shrinks.
    — Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shrink.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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