Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to preshrink

to preshrink

4.8
Wash or treat fabric before use so it does not become smaller later
  • verb
  • /priːˈʃrɪŋk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : preencoger
  • They preshrank the cotton before sewing the shirts to avoid any future shrinkage.

Examples

  • They preshrink the fabric before sewing.

  • By preshrinking the material, the company reduces the risk of customer complaints about size changes.

  • The manufacturer preshrinks all the fabric to ensure the clothes keep their shape after washing.

  • The company preshrunk all the shirts.

  • Before sewing her quilt, she decided to preshrink the fabric to ensure it wouldn't shrink later.

  • It is important to preshrink cotton garments to prevent them from losing their shape after the first wash.

  • The manufacturer recommends that you preshrink the fabric before making any alterations.

Surface Forms

preshrink infinitive
preshrinking present participle
preshrinks third person singular
preshrank past
preshrunk past participle

Morphology

preshrink = shrink (transparent) = pre + shrink

The meaning is directly interpretable as making fabric shrink beforehand so that it will not shrink later.

Etymology

Preshrink comes from pre- meaning 'before' and shrink meaning 'become smaller'. So to preshrink cloth is to wash or treat it 'before' use so it will not shrink later.