shorten
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to make or become short or shorter
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(tr) nautical to reduce the area of (sail)
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(tr) to make (pastry, bread, etc) short, by adding butter or another fat
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gambling to cause (the odds) to lessen or (of odds) to become less
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
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reshortenverb
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undershortenverb (used with object)
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unshortenadjective
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preshortenverb (used with object)
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overshortenverb
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shortenernoun
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have shortenedperfect
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has shortenedperfect 3rd person singular
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has been shorteningperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been shorteningperfect progressive
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is shorteningprogressive 3rd person singular
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are shorteningprogressive
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am shorteningprogressive 1st person singular
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shortenssingular 3rd person
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shorteningparticiple
Past
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had shortenedperfect
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were shorteningprogressive plural
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was shorteningprogressive singular
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had been shorteningperfect progressive
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shortenedsimple
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shortenedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of shorten
Vocabulary lists containing shorten
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.
Shorten the distance between you and your healthy habit.
From Washington Post • Jan. 1, 2023
Shorten the sample to April 21, he’s hitting .462 with four doubles and four multi-hit games.
From Washington Times • May 2, 2022
“I think that is pretty hyper-excited language and I am not sure our senior public servants should be using that language,” Labor party lawmaker Bill Shorten told Australia’s Channel 9.
From Reuters • Apr. 27, 2021
“I’m not sure our senior public servants should be using that language because I’m not sure what that actually helps except to cause more anxiety,” Shorten said.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 26, 2021
Shorten that interval, break down all those old unnecessary barriers.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
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.
