shorten

Definitions

1. 1.To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen; to abridge; to curtail; to contract; as, to shorten work, an allowance of food, etc. Here, where the subject is so fruitful, I am shortened by my chain. Dryden.
2. 2.To make deficient (as to); to deprive; -- with of. Spoiled of his nose, and shortened of his ears. Dryden.
3. 3.To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, pot liquor, or the like. To shorten a rope (Naut.), to take in the slack of it. -- To shorten sail (Naut.), to reduce sail by taking it in.
4. 4.To become short or shorter; as, the day shortens in northern latitudes from June to December; a metallic rod shortens by cold.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "shorten" mean?
• What is another word for "shorten"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is shorten.

• What is to make deficient (as to); to deprive; -- with of. Spoiled of his nose, and shortened of his ears. Dryden called?
• What is to make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, pot liquor, or the like. To shorten a rope (Naut.), to take in the slack of it. -- To shorten sail (Naut.), to reduce sail by taking it in called?
• What is to become short or shorter; as, the day shortens in northern latitudes from June to December; a metallic rod shortens by cold called?