curtail
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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curtails,
present (3rd person singular)
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curtailed,
past participle, past
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curtailing
present participle
noun
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a horizontal, spiral termination to the lower end of a stair railing.
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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
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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curtailsimple
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curtailssimple
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have curtailedperfect
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has curtailedperfect
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am curtailingprogressive
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are curtailingprogressive
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is curtailingprogressive
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have been curtailingperfect progressive
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has been curtailingperfect progressive
Past
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curtailedsimple
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had curtailedperfect
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was curtailingprogressive
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were curtailingprogressive
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had been curtailingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
The UK media has long been criticised for being too intrusive, and moves have been made to curtail some of its worse excesses, while balancing the need for press freedoms.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Credit-card companies have the right to curtail your credit limit for reasons that have nothing to do with you.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Elevated levels of economic uncertainty have prompted firms and households to either curtail or suspend spending decisions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Kieran Tierney is a terrific footballer but injuries curtail his influence.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
To curtail Caesar’s annoying interrogations, Lumbly quickly unhooked the boxcar door and slid it wide.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
But Green Party leader Zack Polanski has said it would be wrong if Wednesday's "abhorrent" attack "curtails our civil liberties".
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
This hits the economy in two ways: boosting inflation and dampening disposable income which curtails growth.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 2, 2026
A wider or protracted conflict in the Middle East that curtails oil flow is certainly a risk.
From Barron's ● Mar. 4, 2026
It is also virtually impossible to avoid, and it’s not clear whether trying to avoid it curtails any kind of real health problem.
From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2026
Frantically he bows down, rises up, merely indicates the sign of the cross and the genuflexions, and curtails all his gestures in order to get sooner finished.
From Devil Stories An Anthology by Various
Annual war games between South Korea and the United States ended on Friday, Seoul's military told AFP, days earlier than initially planned after US President Donald Trump had abruptly ordered them curtailed.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Which, as well as posing its own set of unique challenges that curtailed my reporting, is also a bizarre way to treat a victim of a crime.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
With its warm climate, long beaches and developed tourist infrastructure it is a popular holiday destination for Russians, in particular since sanctions have curtailed international travel for many.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
But so, too, was the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which sharply curtailed the Democratic nominating fight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
But public bigotry has since been vastly curtailed.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Dealmaking by private-equity firms that private-credit funds lend to has slowed down, curtailing the number of lucrative new loans to be made.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Part of the problem with curtailing risk in a retirement plan is that Americans are living longer, and their portfolios need to last their entire life.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
One cloud on the horizon is the possible impact of rising fuel costs, which could end up curtailing Europeans' foreign travel.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
The governor has largely resisted adopting new across-the-board tax increases or sharply curtailing his expensive policy proposals in order to align state spending with revenue.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
Poor child, she was bewildered by the many injunctions we laid upon her, and the curtailing of her freedom tried her sorely, though not a word of complaint came from her.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
