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
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
The 15th Amendment said that neither the United States nor "any state" could deny or abridge the right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
From Salon ● May 22, 2021
Exception 2.—A few words ending in e drop the e before a suffix beginning with a consonant: as, judge + ment = judgment; lodge + ment = lodgment; abridge + ment = abridgment.
From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton
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 forbids any law that abridges adult citizens’ right to vote because of their age.
From Slate ● Apr. 29, 2020
“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
Man's reason introduces a new method; it cuts across, modifies, or abridges the order of Nature.
From Time and Change by John Burroughs
It also happens to be a marvelously made movie, though the elder Kazan focused solely on the fourth and final section of the novel, leaving it not just abridged but a bit adrift.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The 15th Amendment says that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race.
From Slate ● May 8, 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
“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
It read “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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
“Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The 15th amendment, which prohibits denying or abridging the right to vote on the basis of race, makes racial gerrymandering legally suspect.
From Slate ● Apr. 29, 2026
The 1st Amendment guarantees only that the government refrains from abridging freedom of speech.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
