Definition

1. Verb (intransitive):
   • To become smaller, wrinkled, and dried out, often due to heat, age, or lack of moisture. It describes a loss of volume and vitality, resulting in a shrunken appearance.

Usage

• This verb is intransitive, meaning it does not take a direct object. The thing that shrivels is the subject of the sentence.
• It often describes the natural process of decay or dehydration in organic matter like plants, fruits, or skin.
• It can be used figuratively to describe a decline in energy, importance, or vitality.

Examples

• Literal Usage:

  • Without water, the leaves began to shrivel up and turn brown.
  • The grapes had shriveled up into raisins in the hot sun.
  • Her hands seemed to shrivel up with age.

• Figurative Usage:

  • His confidence seemed to shrivel up under her harsh criticism.
  • The organization's funding shriveled up during the economic crisis.

Advanced Usage

• "to shrivel up and die": A common collocation emphasizing complete withering or failure.
  • Without public support, the community project will simply shrivel up and die.

Variants and Related Words

• Shrivel (verb): A more common, shorter form with the same meaning. "Shrivel up" can sometimes add emphasis to the completeness of the action.
  • The flower will shrivel without sunlight.
• Shriveled (adjective): Describing the state of having become wrinkled and contracted.
  • He offered her a shriveled apple.

Synonyms

• Wither: To become dry and sapless; to lose vitality.
• Wilt: To lose freshness, droop (especially for plants).
• Parch: To make or become extremely dry, often by heat.
• Desiccate: To remove moisture from; to dry thoroughly.

Phrasal Verbs

• Shrivel up is itself a phrasal verb. The particle "up" can sometimes be omitted ("shrivel") without a significant change in core meaning, though "shrivel up" can imply a more complete or final process.

Related Idioms

• To shrivel on the vine: To fail or be abandoned before coming to fruition (like unpicked fruit).
  • The promising initiative shriveled on the vine due to lack of leadership.

Verb

1. wither, as with a loss of moisture
   • The fruit dried and shriveled