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# shrinkage

noun (shrinkage — usually uncountable)

«shrinkage» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. The amount by which something gets smaller. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrinkage/#m1)
2. The process of getting smaller. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrinkage/#m2)
3. (business) Goods lost from a shop through theft, damage or mistakes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrinkage/#m3)

### In the lessons

In science and everyday life, clothes and wood can shrink; shrinkage is how much smaller they get. In maths, shrinkage is a decrease, often given as a percentage: 5% shrinkage on a 100 cm cloth leaves 95 cm. Phrases: allow for shrinkage, percentage shrinkage.

### Examples

- Wash it in cold water to avoid shrinkage. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrinkage/#x1)
- The shrinkage of the jumper was 3 centimetres. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrinkage/#x2)
- Buy a bigger size to allow for shrinkage. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrinkage/#x3)
- Wood shows shrinkage as it dries. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrinkage/#x4)
- Shops lose money through shrinkage. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrinkage/#x5)
- If 10% shrinkage happens to 50 cm, it becomes 45 cm. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrinkage/#x6)

### Note

From shrink (shrink, shrank, shrunk). In maths, shrinkage is a decrease: new size = old size − shrinkage.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «shrinkage» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrinkage/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«shrinkage» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/shrinkage.html) on Mova free.