curtail
1 Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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a horizontal, spiral termination to the lower end of a stair railing.
-
Also called curtail step. a starting step having a scroll termination to one or both ends of the tread.
verb
Synonym Usage
See shorten.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has curtailedperfect 3rd person singular
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have curtailedperfect
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has been curtailingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am curtailingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been curtailingperfect progressive
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are curtailingprogressive
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curtailingparticiple
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is curtailingprogressive 3rd person singular
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curtailssingular 3rd person
Past
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had curtailedperfect
-
were curtailingprogressive plural
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had been curtailingperfect progressive
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curtailedsimple
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was curtailingprogressive singular
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curtailedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of curtail1
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English curtailen “to restrict” (said of royal succession or inheritance), probably a conflation of Middle French courtau(l)d ( see curtal) and Middle English taillen “to cut” ( see taille, tailor 1)
Origin of curtail2
Probably alteration, by folk etymology, of curtal
Explanation
To curtail something is to slow it down, put restrictions on it, or stop it entirely. If I give up cake, I am curtailing my cake-eating. Curtail is an official-sounding word for stopping or slowing things down. The police try to curtail crime — they want there to be less crime in the world. A company may want to curtail their employees' computer time, so they spend more time working and less time goofing around. Teachers try to curtail whispering and note-passing in class. When something is curtailed, it's either stopped entirely or stopped quite a bit — it's cut short.
Vocabulary lists containing curtail
100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "B" & "C"
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This Week in Words: Feb. 25 - Mar. 2, 2018
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Curtail the right to bring in distant relatives.
From Washington Post • Sep. 12, 2017
Submit questions on Twitter with the hastag #nytopinion or on Facebook » Should Workplaces Curtail E-Mail?
From New York Times • Dec. 7, 2011
Curtail the money supply, let interest rates float, take all the bad housing loans at current market and put them with a reformed RTC closing the banks that couldn’t take the hit.
From Forbes • Sep. 4, 2011
Curtail a bur, and leave to plague; curtail again, and leave plants.
From St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 4, February 1878 by Various
Curtail the vast expenditure on the departments organised for War work, reducing the staffs and finding other work for those who must be discharged.
From Rebuilding Britain A Survey of Problems of Reconstruction After the World War by Hopkinson, Alfred, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
