释义 |
shrinker|ˈʃrɪŋkə(r)| [f. shrink v. + -er1.] 1. One who shrinks or recoils from the truth, from duty, danger, or the like; in the 16th cent. one who shrinks from the faith of the Gospel or its obligations. (Cf. shrinking ppl. a. 2 a.)
1554Knox Godly Let. C viij, Too fearfull shrinkers from the truthe, for feare of worldly troble. 1563–83Foxe A. & M. 2103/2 Richard Denton, a shrinker from the Gospell. 1564Brief Exam. ******ij, You shal not neede to terme your betters..to be enemies or shrinkers. 1575–85Abp. Sandys Serm. xiv. 239 Another is a shrinker, another halfe a papist. 1611Cotgr., Tergiversateur, a flincher, shrinker, starter. c1635Roxb. Ball. (1887) VI. 433 We are no cowardly shrinkers, but English-men true bred. 1719D'Urfey Pills V. 62 A good Ale drinker; He never was a Shrinker. 2. A person employed in shrinking materials in various manufacturing processes.
1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §190 Tyre shrinker. Ibid. §384 Crabber; cloth shrinker, potter, shrinker,..tends crabbing machine, which passes cloth, at a suitable tension, through weighted rollers in a succession of troughs of water,..where it is expanded or reduced to a specified width. 1960Classification of Occupations (Gen. Register Office) 99/2 Shrinker and dyer.
Add:3. A psychiatrist, = head-shrinker (b) s.v. head n.1 74; hence extended to other specialists working in related disciplines. Cf. shrink n. 2. slang.
1967M. M. Glatt et al. Drug Scene 117 (Gloss.), Shrinker,..psychiatrist. 1975S. Bellow Humboldt's Gift 161 Lawsuits and psychoanalysis were real. As for the lawyers and the shrinkers, they were delighted with him. 1980J. B. Hilton Anathema Stone x. 102 It had to be the clinic for her. Maybe they'd left it too late; or maybe she was too clever for the shrinkers. 1983People 14 Feb. 123/1 It took me a couple of years with a shrinker to develop a protective covering. |