abridge
Americanverb (used with object)
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:
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
Green, a Republican, told the Daily Press that he’s “certainly not going to abridge free speech” on a boat owner’s theme.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2021
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
“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
At present, the working men and women of the Nation are unfairly discriminated against by a statute that abridges their rights, curtails their constructive efforts, and hampers our system of free collective bargaining.
From State of the Union Address by Truman, Harry S.
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
The Precision crew offered to put me through an abridged version of the member experience.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
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
If there’s a disadvantage to this abridged election, Stutzman said, it’s the limited time Harris has to introduce herself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024
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
Advocates of originalism say this sort of backward-looking reasoning is the only way to prevent modern judges or legislatures from abridging individual rights ratified in the Constitution.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 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
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.
