ratatiner

to shrink, shrivel; to shrivel (up); to badly damage, wreck, to destroy; to kill; to soundly defeat; to cream

“Alors on vit s'avancer sur l'estrade une petite vieille femme de maintien craintif, et qui paraissait se ratatiner dans ses pauvres vêtements.” — Then there came forward on the platform a little old woman with timid bearing, who seemed to shrink within her poor clothes.

Of onomatopoeic origin.