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Shrink vs Surgeon - What's the difference?

shrink | surgeon |

As nouns the difference between shrink and surgeon

is that shrink is shrinkage; contraction; recoil while surgeon is one who performs surgery; a doctor who performs operations on people or animals.

As a verb shrink

is to cause to become smaller.

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

    surgeon

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who performs surgery; a doctor who performs operations on people or animals.
  • The surgeon refused to operate because the patient was her son.
  • A surgeonfish.
  • Usage notes

    * In the UK, a surgeon holds a fellowship or a postgraduate degree in order to be known as a surgeon. For instance: FRCS or * In the United States, a surgeon belongs to a subcategory of doctors (physicians) whose practice is largely or exclusively focused on surgery. They generally hold a credential from a medical body regulating the specialty in which they practice.

    Synonyms

    * sawbones (slang)

    Derived terms

    * neurosurgeon * psychosurgeon * brain surgeon * surgeonfish