It can last for many weeks without food, the body steadily shrinking.

As time passed, the human population slowly but steadily shrank.

The average size of households across the country has been shrinking steadily since 1940 - from 3.67 that year to 2.69 in 1985.

The amount of money recipients receive is small and has been shrinking steadily.

But the fund has shrunk steadily since then, to a mere $20 million.

Throughout the 20th century, the number of agricultural operations steadily shrank.

Under close scrutiny of regulators it has been steadily shrinking its business.

However, the state's share of America's merchandise export trade has been steadily shrinking since 2000, from 15.4% to 11.1% in 2008.

Largely cut off from foreign aid since the 1987 elections, the economy has steadily shrunk.

But for the past two years, the world of his family, like that of the 300,000 people still here, has steadily shrunk.