shrink back

shrink back

To recede or recoil. The way the gums are shrinking back from your teeth is a clear sign of gingivitis. The child shrank back when we approached the house.
See also: back, shrink
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

shrink back

v.
To draw back instinctively, as in alarm; recoil: The dog shrank back in fear when I raised my hand.
See also: back, shrink
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • back
  • back at (something or some place)
  • come back and see us
  • be/go back to square one
  • a while back
  • back door
  • back to square one
  • be back on the rails
  • burn one's bridges/boats, to
  • break one's neck, to
References in periodicals archive
"Live in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame." - 1 John 2:28 (New Living Translation) AS a teenager, when my parents were on holiday, I stacked up dirty dishes all week.
And I bet you shrink back in your seat when giant creatures jump out of the water!
Hormone treatment stops ovulation and allows the cells to shrink back. Keyhole surgery removes and destroys rogue cells providing temporary relief.
The latter rule is referred to as the "shrink back" rule.
For example, in the case of a company that manufactures shoes in a foreign country, but manufactures the shoelaces in the United States, the taxpayer would shrink back their analysis to the shoelace manufacturing and that would be available for the DMD.
The world's steelmakers now produce 1 billion tons of steel annually, and it does not look like that number is likely to shrink back under 1 billion any time soon.
When the pallet is then wrapped, the film's memory causes it to shrink back and tighten on the load.
Especially the celebs like Catherine Z-J and Madonna who have babies then shrink back to wash-board stomachs.
So if a hand-wrapper exerts 5% stretch, the film will shrink back 20%.
But when I delete the macros, the files don't shrink back to their original size.
We both, for example, rely heavily on data and projections developed by the United Nation's Population Division, which in recent years has been ratcheting down its estimates of future population By 2300, the United Nations projects that world population could be below the level of 1960, and that the United States will shrink back to the population it had in 1950--only with a far greater share of eiders.
And when the extra capacity was no longer needed, the truck would simply shrink back down to a two-seater again.
Some of the gallery staff seem to shrink back in horror as if another pesky artist is the last person they want to talk to.
We need a federal government that will stand in the center of the fire with us, and not shrink back," Lyons said.