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To cause to shrink or draw together; to contract; to curl. [R.] Wiseman.

To contract; to draw together; to cause to shrink or wrinkle; to distort. [Obs.] Till like a boy you see him cringe his face, And whine aloud for mercy. Shak.

One who meanly shrinks from danger; an arrant coward; a poltroon. You are all recreants and dashtards, and delight to live in slavery to the nobility. Shak.

To frustrate; to fail; to hinder of result. His retiring foe Shrinks from the wound, and disappoints the blow. Addison.

as, to suffer distress from the gout, or from the loss of friends. Not fearing death nor shrinking for distress. Shak.

To become contracted; to shrink. "To draw into less room." Bacon.

To diminish; to become less; to shrink; to waste or consume away; to become degenerate; to fall away. Weary sennights nine times nine Shall he dwindle, peak and pine. Shak. Religious societies, though begun with excellent intentions, are said to have dwindled into factious clubs. Swift.

tion; to take in the arms; to hug. I will embrace him with a soldier's arm, That he shall shrink under my courtesy. Shak. Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them. Acts xx. 1.

or danger; to fail in doing or perserving; to show signs of yielding or of suffering; to shrink; to wince; as, one of the parties flinched from the combat. A child, by a constant course of kindness, may be accustomed to bear very rough usage without flinching or complaining. Locke.

The process of cleansing, shrinking, and thickening cloth by moisture, heat, and pressure. Fulling mill, a mill for fulling cloth as by means of pesties or stampers, which alternately fall into and rise from troughs where the cloth is placed with hot water and fuller's earth, or other cleansing materials.…

To be frightened, and shrink back; to flinch; as, to funk at the edge of a precipice. [Colloq.] C. Kingsley. To funk out, to back out in a cowardly fashion. [Colloq.] To funk right out o' political strife. Lowell (Biglow Papers).

A shrinking back through fear. [Colloq.] "The horrid panic, or funk (as the men of Eton call it)." De Quincey.

To become less; to shrink; to contract; to decrease; to be diminished; as, the apparent magnitude of objects lessens as we recede from them; his care, or his wealth, lessened. The objection lessens much, and comes to no more than this: there was one witness of no good reputation. Atterbury.

n fiber or fabrics) with a solution of caustic alkali. Such treatment causes the fiber to shrink in length and become stronger and more receptive of dyes. If the yarn or cloth is kept under tension during the process, it assumes a silky luster. -- Mer`cer*i*za"tion (#), n.

ion of danger; to lose the spirit and power of resistance; to lose heart; to give way; to shrink; to cower. The atheist power shall quail, and confess his fears. I. Taylor. Stouter hearts than a woman's have quailed in this terrible winter. Longfellow.

To draw back, as from anything repugnant, distressing, alarming, or the like; to shrink. Shak.

from notice. To Una back he cast him to retire. Spenser. The mind contracts herself, and shrinketh in, And to herself she gladly doth retire. Sir J. Davies.

To turn away; to abandon or reject something; specifically, to turn away, or shrink, with abhorrence. But this got by casting pearl to hogs, That bawl for freedom in their senseless mood, And still revolt when trith would set them free. Milton. HIs clear intelligence revolted from the dominant sophisms of that time. J.…

To contract into wrinkles; to shrivel; to shrink; as, riveled fruit; riveled flowers. [Obs.] Pope. "Riveled parchments." Walpole.

Thin canvas glued on the inside of panels to prevent shrinking, checking, etc.