Search Result for "shorten":
Wordnet 3.0
VERB (5)
1. make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration;
- Example: "He shortened his trip due to illness"
2. reduce in scope while retaining essential elements;
- Example: "The manuscript must be shortened"
[syn: abridge, foreshorten, abbreviate, shorten, cut, contract, reduce]
3. make short or shorter;
- Example: "shorten the skirt"
- Example: "shorten the rope by a few inches"
4. become short or shorter;
- Example: "In winter, the days shorten"
5. edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate;
- Example: "bowdlerize a novel"
[syn: bowdlerize, bowdlerise, expurgate, castrate, shorten]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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]The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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]The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (17 December 2009):
Shorten
