shortening

American  

[shawrt-ning, shawr-tn-ing] / ˈʃɔrt nɪŋ, ˈʃɔr tn ɪŋ /

noun

1. butter, lard, or other fat, used to make pastry, bread, etc., short.

2. Phonetics. the act, process, or an instance of making or becoming short.

3. Linguistics.

   1. the act or process of dropping one or more syllables from a word or phrase to form a shorter word with the same meaning, as in forming piano from pianoforte or phone from telephone.

   2. clipped form.

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shortening British  

/ ˈʃɔːtənɪŋ /

noun

1. butter, lard, or other fat, used in a dough, cake mixture, etc, to make the mixture short

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Etymology

Origin of shortening

First recorded in 1535–45; shorten + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

“We’re approaching this like we would at the shop,” he said one night while at work shortening a chain from a discarded bike to fit the one on his rack.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

Proteases, enzymes that recycle proteins, can rapidly cut peptides into individual amino acids, shortening their effectiveness.

From Science Daily • Apr. 28, 2026

Fuel-importing countries are already shortening workweeks, cutting output, and hoarding commodities.

From Barron's • Apr. 27, 2026

In endogamous populations, such variants can occur 100 to 1,000 times as often as in more outbred populations, shortening the time and cost required to find them.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

"She is fine," she said, shortening her leash and laying the shopping bag down on the floor.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg