Showing results for shorten.

Synonyms

shorten

American

[shawr-tn] / ˈʃɔr tn /

verb (used with object)

to make short or shorter.

Synonyms:

restrict, limit, lessen, condense
to reduce, decrease, take in, etc..

to shorten sail.
to make (pastry, bread, etc.) short, as with butter or other fat.
Sports. choke.

verb (used without object)

to become short or shorter.

Synonyms:

lessen, contract
(of odds) to decrease.

shorten British

/ ˈʃɔːtən /

verb

to make or become short or shorter
(tr) nautical to reduce the area of (sail)
(tr) to make (pastry, bread, etc) short, by adding butter or another fat
gambling to cause (the odds) to lessen or (of odds) to become less

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

Shorten, abbreviate, abridge, curtail mean to make shorter or briefer. Shorten is a general word meaning to make less in extent or duration: to shorten a dress, a prisoner's sentence. The other three terms suggest methods of shortening. To abbreviate is to make shorter by omission or contraction: to abbreviate a word. To abridge is to reduce in length or size by condensing, summarizing, and the like: to abridge a document. Curtail suggests deprivation and lack of completeness because of omitting some part: to curtail an explanation.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of shorten

First recorded in 1505–15; short + -en ¹

Vocabulary lists containing shorten

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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.

Companies have wide discretion to shorten or lengthen their fixed assets’ useful lives, which changes their yearly depreciation numbers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 18, 2026

Based on genetic analyses, the researchers estimated that elevated tyrosine levels could shorten men's lifespan by nearly one year.

From Science Daily • Jun. 15, 2026

He also thinks the new chair may shorten the postmeeting press conference and may reconsider whether to hold them after every meeting.

From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026

He could also shorten the length of his press conference, from the roughly 45 minutes typically seen under his predecessor Jerome Powell.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026

He tried to move, but pain hammered into him and made his breath shorten into gasps and he stopped, his legs still in the water.

From "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023