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
Thus, the majority in Mahmoud contends that storybooks like Uncle Bobby’s Wedding abridge free exercise by exerting a “coercive pressure” that undermines the plaintiffs’ ability to raise their children as they wish.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 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
Still, they raise antibody levels overall, and should help stave off severe symptoms and abridge the duration of illness, said Aubree Gordon, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan.
From New York Times ● Oct. 23, 2022
“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
The world is certainly progressing toward physical redemption when even the Irish laborer abridges his cabbage-patch for the sake of small fruits—food which a dainty Ariel could not despise.
From The Home Acre by Edward Payson Roe
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
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
Signed in 1965 after years of organizing and unimaginable sacrifice, it was meant to realize the constitutional promise that the right to vote would not be denied or abridged on account of race.
From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2025
What I have provided hardly qualifies as a synthesis but more as an abridged list of a few messages that may emerge if we stop and reflect.
From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2025
Baby Kochamma, who had been put in charge of their formal education, had read them an abridged version of The Tempest by Charles and Mary Lamb.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
“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
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.
