abbreviate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
abbreviates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
abbreviated,
past participle, past
-
abbreviating
present participle
-
to shorten (a word or phrase) by omitting letters, substituting shorter forms, etc., so that the shortened form can represent the whole word or phrase, as ft. for foot, ab. for about, R.I. for Rhode Island, NW for Northwest, or Xn for Christian.
-
to reduce (anything) in length, duration, etc.; make briefer.
to abbreviate a speech.
verb (used without object)
-
abbreviates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
abbreviated,
past participle, past
-
abbreviating
present participle
verb
-
to shorten (a word or phrase) by contraction or omission of some letters or words
-
to shorten (a speech or piece of writing) by omitting sections, paraphrasing, etc
-
to cut short
Synonym Usage
See shorten.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
abbreviatesimple
-
abbreviatessimple
-
have abbreviatedperfect
-
has abbreviatedperfect
-
am abbreviatingprogressive
-
are abbreviatingprogressive
-
is abbreviatingprogressive
-
have been abbreviatingperfect progressive
-
has been abbreviatingperfect progressive
Past
-
abbreviatedsimple
-
had abbreviatedperfect
-
was abbreviatingprogressive
-
were abbreviatingprogressive
-
had been abbreviatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of abbreviate
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English abbreviaten, from Late Latin abbreviātus shortened (past participle of abbreviāre ), equivalent to Latin ad- ad- + breviātus ( brevi(s) “short“ + -ātus -ate 1 )
Explanation
To abbreviate is to shorten. Words are often abbreviated, like when we say sked instead of schedule. Though we most often think about words being abbreviated — especially terms like OMG and LOL for "oh my God" and "laugh out loud" — lots of things can be abbreviated. You just have to shorten them. Sudden rain might abbreviate a baseball game. A bomb threat would abbreviate a school day. Anytime something is being shortened or cut, abbreviation is going on.
Vocabulary lists containing abbreviate
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Word Generation Science - Measurement
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Kindred
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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:
When Carl Wilson and I were singing those parts back then, we’d abbreviate things — you can’t do everything you did in the studio with only five of us.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2025
The strands consist of almost endless rows of four small molecules that we abbreviate to A, C, G and T.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 9, 2024
Meant to show strength and independence, Alzona’s sculptures abbreviate women’s bodies to such active parts as a torso or a pair of ankles and feet.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2022
Travelers in the know choose from multiple ways to abbreviate TSA line wait time.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 26, 2022
“O for the P,” as Farmer would eventually abbreviate the term, was a simple concept.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Supporters - who dislike the phrase as it wrongly abbreviates the county rather than the city - quickly took to social media to voice their disgruntlement after it aired on Monday evening.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2022
But this make-ahead recipe abbreviates the waiting time too and offers flavorful, tender potatoes and crunchy bits of onion and celery, accented by a creamy dressing.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2021
Raine radically abbreviates the story of the young woman’s tasks, only mentioning the last and hardest, to obtain a vessel of black, icy, Styx-infected water.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 5, 2019
The way Ms. Rebet abbreviates the men, especially, is lovely, like an elegant hieratic calligraphy.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2018
A long day's journey lies between Garoet and Djokjacarta, which popular parlance abbreviates into Djokja.
From Through the Malay Archipelago by Emily Richings
Trading will be abbreviated in the coming week, with markets closed on Friday, June 3, in observance of the Fourth of July holiday.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 28, 2026
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, often abbreviated as BDNF, is a protein involved in the growth, maintenance, and survival of nerve cells and is frequently studied in mental health research.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026
The White House said that medication lists in executive summaries, like the one they provided on Friday, are often abbreviated for readability and relevance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
She lost to Trump following an abbreviated campaign.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
When my dizziness cleared away, I found myself sitting on a small bed sheltered by a kind of abbreviated dark green canopy.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
If you want to seem sincere and receive more responses to your texts, spell out words instead of abbreviating them, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2024
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has been nicknamed Albo since he was a child in keeping with a time-honored Australian tradition of abbreviating names and often adding “o” at the end.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2022
Though political Washington, D.C., adores acronyms, I ask The Post’s editors to refrain from abbreviating the refuge’s evocative name.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 7, 2022
And then the boss said: “Guys, I hate to be a noodge, but could we get back to abbreviating the states? We still have 49 left.”
From Slate ● Oct. 12, 2019
Being in some parts rather tediously minute upon matters of trifling interest, some freedom has been used in abbreviating its redundancies.
From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 08 by Robert Kerr
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.
