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:
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
They debated and ultimately approved the extension of birthright citizenship to these children, concluding that their parents’ lack of American citizenship should not abridge their own civil rights.
From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2025
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
Some former agency officials took offense at the note, seeing it as an attempt to silence retired officers or abridge their First Amendment rights.
From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2021
“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 also brazenly abridges physicians’ freedom of speech.
From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2019
“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
Steam abridges time and space to such a degree that the world grows rapidly prosaic.
From Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life by Thomas Wallace Knox
And it can think coherently for so long that even an abridged version of the model’s “chain of thought” ran more than 75,000 words—the length of the first “Harry Potter” book.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 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
The Precision crew offered to put me through an abridged version of the member experience.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
“Article V: A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.”
From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2025
The following is an abridged version of the first column to run after the Columbine massacre.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
“Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
It’s an American flag inscribed with the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.”
From Slate ● Feb. 19, 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
All abridging remarks and other comments will be in this fancy italic type so you’ll know.
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.
