shorten
Verb
Verb Forms: shortened, shortening, shortens
- To make or become briefer in length or duration.
- make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration
- "He shortened his trip due to illness"
- reduce in scope while retaining essential elements
- "The manuscript must be shortened"
- make short or shorter
- "shorten the skirt"
- "shorten the rope by a few inches"
- become short or shorter
- "In winter, the days shorten"
- edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
- To make shorter; to abbreviate.
- To become shorter.
- To make deficient (as to); to deprive (of).
- To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, etc.
- To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen.
- To make crumbly.
- To take in the slack of (a rope).
- To reduce (sail) by taking it in.
Examples
- He hoped the double letter score would SHORTEN his opponent’s lead in Scrabble.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English shortnen, schortenen, equivalent to short + -en (verbal suffix). In some senses, a continuation (in altered form) of Middle English schorten (“to make short, shorten”), from Old English sċortian (“to become short”), from Proto-Germanic *skurtōną (“to shorten”).
Synonyms
abbreviate, abridge, bowdlerise, bowdlerize, castrate, contract, cut, expurgate, foreshorten, reduce, chop down, chop off, compress, condense, curt, curtail, lop off, make shorter, pare, prune, reduce in length, saw off, shorten, trim, truncate
Scrabble Score: 10
shorten: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordshorten: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
shorten: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary