shrivel

«shrivel» in Mova's school dictionary: To become smaller, dry and wrinkled, often because of… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (shrivel, shrivels, shrivelled (UK) / shriveled (US), shrivelling (UK) / shriveling (US))

meaning for a pupil

1) To become smaller, dry and wrinkled, often because of heat, cold or lack of water. tree →

2) To make something do this. tree →

3) (figurative) To feel very small or ashamed: "I shrivelled with embarrassment." tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons, plants shrivel without water, and grapes shrivel into raisins when dried. In cooking, things shrivel in a hot pan. In stories, a character might shrivel under a fierce look. Phrases: shrivel up, shrivelled leaves, shrivel in the heat.

examples

• The flowers shrivelled in the heat. tree →
• Grapes shrivel into raisins when they dry. tree →
• My fingers shrivel in the bath. tree →
• The leaves shrivelled up and fell off. tree →
• The slug shrivelled when salt touched it. tree →
• I shrivelled with embarrassment when I fell over on stage. tree →
• Till thy skin shrivels up and thou art a skeleton! tree →

note

UK spelling doubles the l (shrivelled, shrivelling); US uses one l (shriveled). Adjective: shrivelled. Fingers wrinkle in water because of nerves controlling blood vessels, not just water soaking in.

In the corpora

• The grains shrivel under their hoes; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «shrivel» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.