萎缩 (wěi suō) — to wither, to dry up (of plants); to atrophy, to shrink (of muscles, customs, industries, etc.)
Definition
萎缩 covers both plant withering (like 枯萎, 凋谢) and figure-of-speech atrophy of muscles, industries, or customs. Unlike 退化, it emphasizes physical shrinking or loss of scale rather than decline in quality.
verb
to witherto dry up (of plants)to atrophyto shrink (of muscles, customs, industries, etc.)
Examples
- 萎缩。Zhè kē huā yīn wèi quē shuǐ ér wěi suō le.This flower withered from lack of water.
- 萎缩。Tā de tuǐ bù jī ròu kāi shǐ wěi suō le.The muscles in his legs began to atrophy.
- 萎缩。Chuán tǒng nóng yè zhèng zài bú duàn wěi suō.Traditional agriculture is continuously shrinking.
Appears in
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