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Boggle vs Shrink - What's the difference?

boggle | shrink | Synonyms |

Boggle is a synonym of shrink.


In lang=en terms the difference between boggle and shrink

is that boggle is to confuse or mystify; overwhelm while shrink is to draw back; to withdraw.

As verbs the difference between boggle and shrink

is that boggle is to be bewildered, dumbfounded, or confused while shrink is to cause to become smaller.

As a noun shrink is

shrinkage; contraction; recoil.

boggle

English

Verb

(boggl)
  • To be bewildered, dumbfounded, or confused.
    • He boggled at the surprising news.
    The mind boggles .
  • * Barrow
    • Boggling at nothing which serveth their purpose.
  • * Glanvill
    • We start and boggle at every unusual appearance.
  • To confuse or mystify; overwhelm.
    • The vastness of space really boggles the mind.
    The oddities of quantum mechanics can boggle the minds of students and experienced physicists alike.
  • (US, dialect) To embarrass with difficulties; to bungle or botch.
  • (obsolete) To play fast and loose; to dissemble.
    • (Howell)

    Derived terms

    * mindboggling

    shrink

    English

    Verb

  • To cause to become smaller.
    • The dryer shrank my sweater.
  • To become smaller; to contract.
    • This garment will shrink when wet.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • I have not found that water, by mixture of ashes, will shrink or draw into less room.
  • * Dryden
    • And shrink like parchment in consuming fire.
  • To cower or flinch.
    • Molly shrank away from the blows of the whip.
  • To draw back; to withdraw.
  • * Milton
    • The Libya Hammon shrinks his horn.
  • (figuratively) To withdraw or retire, as from danger.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • What happier natures shrink at with affright, / The hard inhabitant contends is right.
  • * Jowett (Thucyd.)
    • They assisted us against the Thebans when you shrank from the task.

    Synonyms

    * (avoid an unwanted task) funk, shirk

    Antonyms

    * (to cause to become smaller) expand, grow, enlarge, stretch * (become smaller) expand, grow, enlarge, stretch

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • shrinkage; contraction; recoil
    • Yet almost wish, with sudden shrink , / That I had less to praise. — Leigh Hunt.
  • (slang, sometimes, pejorative) A psychiatrist or therapist; a head-shrinker.
    • You need to see a shrink .
    My shrink said that he was an enabler, bad for me.
  • * 1994 , (Green Day),
    • I went to a shrink , to analyze my dreams. He said it's lack of sex that's bringing my down.''

    Usage notes

    * The slang sense was originally pejorative, expressing a distrust of practitioners in the field. It is now not as belittling or trivializing.

    Synonyms

    * head-shrinker