truncate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to shorten by cutting off a part; cut short.
Truncate detailed explanations.
- Synonyms:
- abbreviate, curtail, trim, abridge
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Mathematics, Computers. to shorten (a number) by dropping a digit or digits.
The numbers 1.4142 and 1.4987 can both be truncated to 1.4.
adjective
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Biology.
-
square or broad at the end, as if cut off transversely.
-
lacking the apex, as certain spiral shells.
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verb
adjective
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cut short; truncated
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biology having a blunt end, as though cut off at the tip
a truncate leaf
Usage
What does truncate mean? Truncate means to shorten something by removing part of it. You can truncate something by removing the beginning of it, the end of it, the top of it, or another part of it. In scientific and medical contexts, truncating often involves cutting off a part of something in a way that’s parallel to its base (or perpendicular to its side). In the context of math, to truncate is to shorten a number by dropping some of the digits after the decimal place. For example, 1. 524 can be truncated to 1. 5. Less commonly, truncate can be used as an adjective with the same meaning as truncated—shortened, as if having had a portion cut off. Example: When they originally released the movie, they truncated the ending, but they’re planning to release the full version soon.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
truncatesimple
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truncatessimple
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have truncatedperfect
-
has truncatedperfect
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am truncatingprogressive
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are truncatingprogressive
-
is truncatingprogressive
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have been truncatingperfect progressive
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has been truncatingperfect progressive
Past
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truncatedsimple
-
had truncatedperfect
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was truncatingprogressive
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were truncatingprogressive
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had been truncatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of truncate
1480–90; < Latin truncātus (past participle of truncāre to lop), equivalent to trunc ( us ) trunk + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
The verb truncate means "to cut off or shorten." You can truncate a board that is too long using a power saw, a chain saw, or perhaps even a karate kick. The word truncate is from a Latin word, truncare, which means "to maim or to cut off." Although this brings to mind a more grisly image ("truncate a limb in an accident"), you can actually truncate things that are not related to anatomy. You could truncate an essay by omitting a paragraph or two, or you could even truncate your vacation in Belize by heading home early.
Vocabulary lists containing truncate
"Why Read Shakespeare?" Vocabulary from the argument
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "T"
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The Number System
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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:
When price caps truncate the payoff window, many of their projects never get financed or are abandoned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
It said that "maybe for the best of intentions, it led the Commission to truncate her evidence," adding: "That appears to have prevented her from completing her account."
From BBC ● May 10, 2025
But the constitutional terrain would shift in one essential respect: Courts would no longer be permitted to truncate the narrative.
From Slate ● Apr. 15, 2025
“In order to do a new rule or undo an old rule, you still have to go through the rulemaking process. I suspect they’re going to try to truncate that in some way.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2024
He pointed out that it was relatively easy to pronounce, though there was the danger that Americans, obsessed with abbreviation, would truncate it to Nick.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
“It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2023
This low carbon-use efficiency substantially truncates the CO2-fertilization effect.
From Nature ● Apr. 7, 2020
In short, Fea’s individualist focus truncates his analysis repeatedly throughout his book, despite his clear understanding and concern for the importance of community.
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2018
She truncates her home-town visit and dashes back to Romania to return to work, where she’s preparing a plan for an oil company to outsource labor and throw employees out of work.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 21, 2016
An inner circle struck through the intersections of the circles by the tangents, truncates the cusps.
From The Seven Lamps of Architecture by Ruskin, John
Lithwick: Chase decided, in a very truncated opinion, that Turner’s apprenticeship violated the 13th Amendment’s prohibition of involuntary servitude and the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
The minutes were shorter but not as terse as some economists feared, though some of the description of the discussions seemed truncated.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
We expect exchanges will be under significant pressure to add so-called zero-dated options, whose truncated expiration cycles enable investors to bet on daily stock swings.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
At the very start of primary school, his education was truncated by his father's death.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026
Mostly, though, I threw all my frustration into building those perfect, truncated pyramids of fruit.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
It would almost certainly lead these areas to be cordoned off from public use, truncating shared spaces for recreation and nature access and the benefits that come with them.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2025
Outside of truncating his foreign travel, Mr. Biden also agreed to cut other congressional leaders out of the debt-limit negotiations and deal directly with the speaker.
From Washington Times ● May 16, 2023
Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 committee, the Conservative Party’s parliamentary group, announced a sweeping change to the rules, truncating what is usually a two-month process.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2022
A spokesman for the committee acknowledged truncating the text and apologized for doing so.
From New York Times ● Jun. 9, 2022
It is, of course, the explosive force from below which keeps the crater clear, as a cup-shaped hollow, truncating the cone; and all stones falling into it would be only thrown out again.
From The San Francisco calamity by earthquake and fire by Morris, Charles
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.
