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Cramp vs Shrink - What's the difference?

cramp | shrink | Related terms |

Cramp is a related term of shrink.


In lang=en terms the difference between cramp and shrink

is that cramp is to restrain to a specific physical position, as if with a cramp while shrink is to draw back; to withdraw.

As nouns the difference between cramp and shrink

is that cramp is a painful contraction of a muscle which cannot be controlled while shrink is shrinkage; contraction; recoil.

As verbs the difference between cramp and shrink

is that cramp is (of a muscle) to contract painfully and uncontrollably while shrink is to cause to become smaller.

cramp

English

(wikipedia cramp)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A painful contraction of a muscle which cannot be controlled.
  • * Sir T. More
  • The cramp , divers nights, gripeth him in his legs.
  • That which confines or contracts; a restraint; a shackle; a hindrance.
  • * L'Estrange
  • A narrow fortune is a cramp to a great mind.
  • * Cowper
  • crippling his pleasures with the cramp of fear
  • A clamp for carpentry or masonry.
  • A piece of wood having a curve corresponding to that of the upper part of the instep, on which the upper leather of a boot is stretched to give it the requisite shape.
  • Derived terms

    * brain cramp * cramp ring * writer's cramp

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (of a muscle) To contract painfully and uncontrollably.
  • To prohibit movement or expression.
  • You're cramping my style.
  • * Layard
  • The mind may be as much cramped by too much knowledge as by ignorance.
  • To restrain to a specific physical position, as if with a cramp.
  • You're going to need to cramp the wheels on this hill.
  • * Ford
  • when the gout cramps my joints
  • To fasten or hold with, or as if with, a cramp.
  • (by extension) To bind together; to unite.
  • * Burke
  • The fabric of universal justice is well cramped and bolted together in all its parts.
  • To form on a cramp.
  • to cramp boot legs

    References

    * ----

    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