SHRINKAGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shrinkage mean? 

• SHRINKAGE (noun)
  The noun SHRINKAGE has 3 senses:

1. process or result of becoming less or smaller

2. the amount by which something shrinks

3. the act of stealing goods that are on display in a store

  Familiarity information: SHRINKAGE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHRINKAGE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Process or result of becoming less or smaller

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

shrinkage; shrinking

Context example:

the material lost 2 inches per yard in shrinkage

Hypernyms ("shrinkage" is a kind of...):

decrease; drop-off; lessening (a change downward)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shrinkage"):

compression; condensation; contraction (the process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together)

Derivation:

shrink (become smaller or draw together)

shrink (reduce in size; reduce physically)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The amount by which something shrinks

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("shrinkage" is a kind of...):

decrease; decrement (the amount by which something decreases)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of stealing goods that are on display in a store

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

shoplifting; shrinkage

Context example:

shrinkage is the retail trade's euphemism for shoplifting

Hypernyms ("shrinkage" is a kind of...):

larceny; stealing; theft; thievery; thieving (the act of taking something from someone unlawfully)

 Context examples 

The nerve growth factor also protects nerve cells from age-related shrinkage and wasting.

(Exercise May Help Seniors with Word, Memory Problems, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It would also increase tropical rainfall, which would warm the air to balance the cooling from the high cloud shrinkage.

(NASA Data Suggest Future May Be Rainier Than Expected, NASA)

Clot shrinkage occurs when platelets form hand-like protrusions called filopodia.

(How And Why Blood Clots Shrink, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Both aerobic and stretching may prevent or slow cognitive decline, according to the researchers, but aerobic exercise had more benefits on reducing hippocampal shrinkage than stretching.

(Aerobic Exercise Slows Cognitive Decline in Adults at Risk of Alzheimer's, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The key positive finding is that the exercise intervention specifically reduced shrinkage of the memory center in the brain in people with the earliest symptomatic stage of Alzheimer's disease, said neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson.

(Aerobic Exercise Slows Cognitive Decline in Adults at Risk of Alzheimer's, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)