'Shorten' definitions:
Definition of 'shorten'
From: WordNet
verb
Make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration; "He shortened his trip due to illness" [ant: lengthen]
verb
Reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The manuscript must be shortened" [syn: abridge, foreshorten, abbreviate, shorten, cut, contract, reduce] [ant: dilate, elaborate, enlarge, expand, expatiate, exposit, expound, flesh out, lucubrate]
verb
Make short or shorter; "shorten the skirt"; "shorten the rope by a few inches"
verb
Become short or shorter; "In winter, the days shorten" [ant: lengthen]
verb
Edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate; "bowdlerize a novel" [syn: bowdlerize, bowdlerise, expurgate, castrate, shorten]
Definition of 'Shorten'
From: GCIDE
- Shorten \Short"en\, v. i. To become short or shorter; as, the day shortens in northern latitudes from June to December; a metallic rod shortens by cold. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Shorten'
From: GCIDE
- Shorten \Short"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Shortened ?}; p. pr. & vb. n. Shortening.] [See Short, a.]
- 1. To make short or shorter in measure, extent, or time; as, to shorten distance; to shorten a road; to shorten days of calamity. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen; to abridge; to curtail; to contract; as, to shorten work, an allowance of food, etc. [1913 Webster]
- Here, where the subject is so fruitful, I am shortened by my chain. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To make deficient (as to); to deprive; -- with of. [1913 Webster]
- Spoiled of his nose, and shortened of his ears. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, pot liquor, or the like. [1913 Webster]
- To shorten a rope (Naut.), to take in the slack of it.
- To shorten sail (Naut.), to reduce sail by taking it in. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'shorten'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abate,
- abbreviate,
- abrade,
- abridge,
- abstract,
- bate,
- be telegraphic,
- bob,
- bobtail,
- boil down,
- brief,
- capsule,
- capsulize,
- circumscribe,
- clip,
- coarct,
- compact,
- compress,
- concentrate,
- condense,
- consolidate,
- constrict,
- constringe,
- contract,
- cramp,
- crop,
- curtail,
- cut,
- cut back,
- cut down,
- cut off short,
- cut short,
- damp,
- dampen,
- decrease,
- deduct,
- deflate,
- depreciate,
- depress,
- derogate,
- detract,
- digest,
- diminish,
- disparage,
- dock,
- downgrade,
- drain,
- draw,
- draw in,
- draw together,
- eat away,
- elide,
- epitomize,
- erode,
- excerpt,
- extract,
- file away,
- foreshorten,
- hem,
- impair,
- knit,
- leach,
- lessen,
- lower,
- minify,
- minimize,
- mow,
- narrow,
- nip,
- nutshell,
- outline,
- pare,
- poll,
- pollard,
- prune,
- pucker,
- pucker up,
- purify,
- purse,
- reap,
- recap,
- recapitulate,
- reduce,
- refine,
- remove,
- retrench,
- roll back,
- rub away,
- scale down,
- shave,
- shear,
- shrink,
- simplify,
- sketch,
- sketch out,
- slash,
- snub,
- solidify,
- step down,
- strangle,
- strangulate,
- stunt,
- subduct,
- subtract,
- sum up,
- summarize,
- synopsize,
- take away,
- take from,
- take in,
- telescope,
- thin,
- thin out,
- trim,
- truncate,
- tune down,
- waste no words,
- wear away,
- weed,
- withdraw,
- wrinkle