abridge
Americanverb (used with object)
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abridges,
present (3rd person singular)
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abridged,
past participle, past
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abridging
present participle
verb
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to reduce the length of (a written work) by condensing or rewriting
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to curtail; diminish
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archaic to deprive of (privileges, rights, etc)
Synonym Usage
See shorten.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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abridgernoun
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reabridgeverb (used with object)
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abridgableadjective
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abridgeableadjective
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nonabridgableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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abridgesimple
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abridgessimple
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have abridgedperfect
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has abridgedperfect
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am abridgingprogressive
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are abridgingprogressive
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is abridgingprogressive
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have been abridgingperfect progressive
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has been abridgingperfect progressive
Past
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abridgedsimple
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had abridgedperfect
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was abridgingprogressive
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were abridgingprogressive
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had been abridgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of abridge
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English abreggen, abriggen, from Middle French abreg(i)er, from Late Latin abbreviāre “to shorten”; see a- 4, abbreviate
Explanation
So the editor wants to cut your epic 800-page history of the stapler to a 150-page summary instead. Don't cry — he just wants to abridge your masterpiece, trimming it down to the more readable essential elements. Synonymous with abbreviate, condense and cut short, abridge comes from the Latin word abreviare, which means "to shorten." Although it's usually used in reference to wordy texts, one can also abridge or shorten a piece of clothing; a miniskirt is just an abridged version of the old floor length hoop skirt, for example. But abridging something isn't always good: If your civil rights are abridged, they've been lessened in some way.
Vocabulary lists containing abridge
The Bill of Rights
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19th Amendment (1920)
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"On Women's Right to Vote" by Susan B. Anthony
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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:
Another provision, the Privileges or Immunities Clause, declares that no state “shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Of course, the Constitution contemplates that democracy is the appropriate process for change, so long as that process does not abridge fundamental rights .
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2025
In other words, to the extent that selling shirts constitutes “speech,” denying Elster an exclusive right to do so does not abridge it.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2023
In televised remarks before the cabinet session, Netanyahu said it was "unthinkable" that the government would abridge the right to demonstrate or support any violence against protesters.
From Reuters ● Jul. 9, 2023
“Listen, you guys published a book just after World War I. Do you think it might be a good idea for me to abridge it and we’d republish it now?”
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
She abridges its plot, removing the second-generation narrative that bookends Brontë’s writing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026
The amendment speaks solely to governmental action that abridges free speech, not to societal actions or the actions of other individuals.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 26, 2022
It abridges students’ right to receive information and express ideas at school, both of which are protected by the First Amendment.
From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2022
“It does not entitle the Florida Supreme Court to adopt, or this court to endorse, a rule of judicial conduct that abridges candidates’ speech in the judicial election that the Florida Constitution prescribes.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2015
Every machine which abridges labour adds to the productiveness of industry, but it adds also to the productiveness of capital.
From Letters of David Ricardo to Thomas Robert Malthus, 1810-1823 by David Ricardo
An abridged version of the ceremonies will be broadcast Sept. 12 on FXX and stream on Hulu the following day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
A right can be denied outright, or it can be abridged, reduced, made less meaningful in practice while remaining formally available.
From Slate ● May 8, 2026
I first encountered Louisa May Alcott in an abridged children’s edition of “Little Women” that was brimming with pastel illustrations and tidy moral lessons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
The Collegiate—an abridged, more manageable version of the company’s gargantuan International edition—was introduced in 1898 and had been revised roughly every decade thereafter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
I picked up the terms when Mr. Owen made us read an abridged version of Moby- Dick in ninth grade.
From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin
The three media organisations have argued that the ban breaches their rights under the First Amendment, which forbids the government from "abridging" the freedom of the press.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
In 1870, the 15th Amendment prohibited the states from denying or abridging the right of citizens to vote based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025
The 1st Amendment guarantees only that the government refrains from abridging freedom of speech.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2024
The First Amendment prohibits Congress from abridging free speech, as well as from establishing an official religion or limiting religious liberty.
From Salon ● Apr. 14, 2024
My father read it to me, and I just quick skimmed along, crossing out whole sections when I did the abridging, leaving everything just as it was in the original Morgenstern.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
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.
