to shrink from
7
5.1
- phrasal verb
- /ʃrɪŋk frʌm/
:
evitar
- If you shrink from your responsibilities, others might have to pick up the slack.
- shrink from the challenge
I urge you not to shrink from these hurdles, but to experiment and take intellectual risks.
- I urge you not to shrink from these hurdles, but to experiment and take intellectual risks.
- And often it's so painful for them that one shrinks from doing it.
- And it was just striking powerful to me because at some point, you'd think the temptation would just be to shrink away from that kind of nightmare.
- Some are licentious, other prone to anger or cruel or proud other others shrink in horror from vices of that sort of pride, cruelty, anger.
Examples
-
I did not shrink from the challenge.
-
While America rebuilds at home, we will not shrink from the challenges, nor fail to seize the opportunities of this new world.
Academic text (1996) -
Never one to shrink from an honest challenge.
-
Why do you shrink from me?
-
In the face of this violence, America cannot shrink from the responsibility to lead.
Blog text (33) -
Sometimes perhaps they shrink from the weight of the responsibility.
Fiction book (1993) -
But neither will we shrink from the risk at any time it must be faced.
Fiction book (1999) -
Speaking very personally, I shrink from the challenge of religious leadership.
Academic text (2000) -
I urge you not to shrink from these hurdles, but to experiment and take intellectual risks.
-
On the other hand, Palin has never shrunk from creating division and polarization.
Blog text (13)
Synonyms
92
2.9
To avoid dealing with a problem or responsibility
41
4.6
Avoid doing something because you feel afraid or unsure
19
6.3
To avoid doing work because it is hard or unpleasant
Antonyms
How Reluctant
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to avoid something because of fear or unwillingness' is directly derivable from combining 'shrink' (to recoil or flinch away) with 'from' (away/separation): the physical idea of recoiling maps straightforwardly onto avoiding an action. This is a common, cross-linguistic metaphorical mapping, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents is likely to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrasal verb shrink from comes from a simple picture: someone suddenly pulls back or makes themselves smaller when they face something scary or unpleasant. So, shrink means 'to pull back' and from means 'away from', which is why it now means 'to avoid doing something difficult or unpleasant'.