To become wrinkled or constricted

Question

pucker (verb)intransitive verb   : to become wrinkled or constrictedtransitive verb   : to contract into folds or wrinkles[M-W's Col. Dic.]A wrinked object becomes unwrinkled once it's stretched hence not constricted. So, is there a contradiction in the definition, or am I missing something? Please guide me. Thanks.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Jackson6612pucker (verb)
intransitive verb : to become wrinkled or constricted
transitive verb : to contract into folds or wrinkles

I'm not sure what you're asking, but in my view the "transitive" definition applies equally to the intransitive act.

It's tricky. "To become" implies a change of state, or a change of condition. Is there an actor or not?

My lips are puckered. Is this "to be" plus adjective complement, or is it passive voice? If the latter, it's transitive.
(Somebody or something did it to them.)

"To contract" is equally ambiguous.
If you say "The catipillar contracts," do you mean it contracts itself (reflexive, like "I cut myself."),
or do you mean that some outside force contracts it?
I've been told that a reflexive action is transitive.
To me, to (transitively) pucker something, you must apply some external force to it to cause it to become puckered.
"I puckered the top of the bag so I could blow into it and fill it with air."

"I puckered my lips." This is transitive, because I did it to them.

"My lips puckered involuntarily, as I watched my friend suck a lemon." (intransitive)

I have no idea if this answerers your question.

A wrinked object becomes unwrinkled once it's stretched A wrinkled object is not necessarily wrinkled forever!
A bent thing can often be straightened.

- A.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Not sure what you are asking about.

Consider this simple example.
You pucker your lips to kiss someone. [K]
After the kiss, you unpucker your lips.[K]

Clive

To become wrinkled or constricted

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