Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense shortens, present participle shortening, past tense, past participle shortened
1. verb
If you shorten an event or the length of time that something lasts, or if it shortens, it does not last as long as it would otherwise do or as it used to do.
Smoking can shorten your life. [VERB noun]
The trading day is shortened in observance of the Labor Day holiday. [VERB noun]
When the days shorten in winter some people suffer depression. [VERB]
Synonyms: get shorter, contract, diminish, dwindle More Synonyms of shorten
2. verb
If you shorten an object or if it shortens, it becomes smaller in length.
His father paid £1,000 for an operation to shorten his nose. [VERB noun]
As they shorten, cells become more prone to disease and death. [VERB]
3. verb
If you shorten a name or other word, you change it by removing some of the letters.
Originally called Lili, she eventually shortened her name to Lee. [VERB noun]
4. to shorten the odds
More Synonyms of shorten
shorten in British English
(ˈʃɔːtən)
verb
1.
to make or become short or shorter
2. (transitive) nautical
to reduce the area of (sail)
3. (transitive)
to make (pastry, bread, etc) short, by adding butter or another fat
4. gambling
to cause (the odds) to lessen or (of odds) to become less
Derived forms
shortener (ˈshortener)
noun
shorten in American English
(ˈʃɔrtən)
verb transitive
1.
to make short or shorter; reduce in length, amount, or extent
2.
to furl or reef (a sail) so that less canvas is exposed to the breeze
3.
to add shortening in making (pastry, etc.) for crispness or flakiness
verb intransitive
4.
to become short or shorter
SYNONYMY NOTE: shorten implies reduction in length, extent, or duration [to shorten a rope, a visit, one's life, etc.]; curtail implies a making shorter than was originally intended, as because of necessity orexpediency [expenditures curtailed because of a reduced income]; abridge implies reduction in compass by condensing, omitting parts, etc. but usually connotesthat what is essential is kept [to abridge a dictionary]; abbreviate usually refers to the shortening of a word or phrase by contraction or by substitutionof a symbol, but also has extended, sometimes jocular applications [an abbreviated costume]
OPPOSITES: lengthen, extend
Examples of 'shorten' in a sentence
shorten
We are worried they could damage the fence and shorten its life.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
You want to shorten the name to go global.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
And abolishing the primaries would shorten the length of the presidential process from ten months to four.
Chancellor, John Peril and Promise: A Commentary on America (1990)
The best we can hope for is a shortening of the time of the ban.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Those odds rapidly shortened during the campaign until the last two days when betting closed.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Ultra undoubtedly shortened the war and helped to ensure victory.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Vets say being overweight can shorten the life of a dog by around two years.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The aim is to shorten the time cases take to resolve from a year to six months.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
But we can shorten those odds by being alert to the danger in our midst.
The Sun (2009)
Their success is credited with helping to shorten the war by two years.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
To make matters worse he has an illness which will shorten his life.
The Sun (2011)
Superb insight into what those heroes went through to shorten the war.
The Sun (2014)
This would help to clear her debts quicker and thus shorten the time that her credit file is affected.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
But the odds are clearly shortening.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The sun could only lower in the sky, the days shorten.
Paul Hyland RALEGH'S LAST JOURNEY: A Tale of Madness, Vanity and Treachery (2003)
Some are colour-coded for different degrees of resistance but you can make exercises harder by shortening the length.
Sally Gunnell, Kathryn Leigh BE YOUR BEST: How Anyone can become Fit, Healthy and Confident (2002)
I mention that he obviously decided to shorten his first name for a reason.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The long warm days of summer shortened and September brought the first chill of winter to the night air.
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss THE WOLF AND THE DOVE
It is shortening the name.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
But teachers' unions argue that the changes will not help, and they are also furious over a proposal to shorten summer holidays from eight to six weeks.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In other languages
shorten
British English: shorten VERB
If you shorten an event or the length of time that something lasts, or if it shortens, it does not last as long as it would otherwise do or as it used to do.
Smoking can shorten your life.
American English: shorten
Brazilian Portuguese: encurtar
Chinese: 使变短
European Spanish: acortar
French: raccourcir
German: verkürzen
Italian: accorciare
Japanese: 短くする/短くなる
Korean: 단축 하다
European Portuguese: encurtar
Latin American Spanish: acortar
Chinese translation of 'shorten'
shorten
(ˈʃɔːtn)
vt
[holiday, life, book, letter]缩(縮)短 (suōduǎn)
[clothes, plank etc]截短 (jiéduǎn)
vi
变(變)短 (biàn duǎn)
1 (verb)
Definition
to make or become short or shorter
The day surgery will help to shorten waiting lists.
Synonyms
cut
The first priority is to cut costs.
reduce
Consumption is being reduced by 25 per cent.
decrease
The medication is said to decrease the risk of heart attack.
cut down
trim
They looked at ways they could trim these costs.
diminish
Federalism is intended to diminish the power of the central state.
dock
He threatened to dock her fee.
cut back
prune
You have to prune the bushes if you want fruit.
lessen
Keep immunisations up to date to lessen the risk of serious illness.
curtail
NATO plans to curtail the number of troops being sent to the region.
The celebrations had to be curtailed because of bad weather.
abbreviate
He abbreviated his first name to Alec.
truncate
I'm going to truncate the time I spend at work.
abridge
We don't abridge any of the stories we publish.
downsize
Opposites
increase,
extend
,
expand
,
prolong
,
stretch
,
lengthen
,
draw out
,
spin out
,
elongate
,
make longer
,
protract
2 (verb)
Definition
to make or become short or shorter
It's a simple matter to shorten trouser legs.
Synonyms
turn up
trim
The document has been trimmed as it passes through different hands.
3 (verb)
Definition
to make or become short or shorter
When the days shorten, some people suffer from depression.
Synonyms
get shorter
contract
Output fell last year and is expected to contract further this year.
diminish
The threat of war has diminished.
dwindle
The factory's workforce has dwindled.
shrink
The vast forests have shrunk.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of abbreviate
Definition
to cut short
He abbreviated his first name to Alec.
Synonyms
shorten,
reduce,
contract,
trim,
cut,
clip,
abstract,
digest,
prune,
summarize,
compress,
curtail,
condense,
truncate,
epitomize,
abridge,
précis
in the sense of abridge
Definition
to shorten a written work by taking out parts
We don't abridge any of the stories we publish.
Synonyms
shorten,
reduce,
contract,
trim,
clip,
diminish,
decrease,
abstract,
digest,
cut down,
cut back,
cut,
prune,
concentrate,
lessen,
summarize,
compress,
curtail,
condense,
abbreviate,
truncate,
epitomize,
downsize,
précis,
synopsize (US)
in the sense of contract
Definition
to make or become smaller, narrower, or shorter
Output fell last year and is expected to contract further this year.
Synonyms
lessen,
reduce,
shrink,
diminish,
decrease,
dwindle
Synonyms of 'shorten'
shorten
Explore 'shorten' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of curtail
Definition
to restrict
NATO plans to curtail the number of troops being sent to the region.The celebrations had to be curtailed because of bad weather.
Synonyms
reduce,
cut,
diminish,
decrease,
dock,
cut back,
shorten,
lessen,
cut short,
pare down,
retrench
in the sense of decrease
Definition
to make or become less in size, strength, or quantity
The medication is said to decrease the risk of heart attack.
Synonyms
reduce,
cut,
lower,
contract,
depress,
moderate,
weaken,
diminish,
turn down,
slow down,
cut down,
shorten,
dilute,
impair,
lessen,
curtail,
wind down,
abate,
tone down,
truncate,
abridge,
downsize
in the sense of diminish
Definition
to make or become smaller, fewer, or less
Federalism is intended to diminish the power of the central state.
Synonyms
reduce,
cut,
decrease,
lessen,
contract,
lower,
weaken,
curtail,
abate,
retrench,
disempower
in the sense of diminish
Definition
to make or become smaller, fewer, or less
The threat of war has diminished.
Synonyms
decrease,
decline,
lessen,
contract,
weaken,
shrink,
dwindle,
wane,
recede,
subside,
ebb,
taper,
die out,
fade away,
abate,
peter out
in the sense of dock
He threatened to dock her fee.
Synonyms
cut,
reduce,
decrease,
diminish,
cut back,
lessen
in the sense of dwindle
Definition
to grow less in size, strength, or number
The factory's workforce has dwindled.
Synonyms
lessen,
fall,
decline,
contract,
sink,
fade,
weaken,
shrink,
diminish,
decrease,
decay,
wither,
wane,
subside,
ebb,
die down,
die out,
abate,
shrivel,
peter out,
die away,
waste away,
taper off,
grow less
in the sense of lessen
Definition
to make or become less
Keep immunisations up to date to lessen the risk of serious illness.
Synonyms
reduce,
lower,
diminish,
decrease,
relax,
ease,
narrow,
moderate,
dial down,
weaken,
erode,
impair,
degrade,
minimize,
curtail,
lighten,
wind down,
abridge,
de-escalate
in the sense of prune
Definition
to cut off dead or surplus branches of (a tree or shrub)
You have to prune the bushes if you want fruit.
Synonyms
cut,
trim,
clip,
dock,
shape,
cut back,
shorten,
snip,
lop,
pare down
in the sense of reduce
Definition
to weaken or lessen
Consumption is being reduced by 25 per cent.
Synonyms
lessen,
cut,
contract,
lower,
depress,
moderate,
dial down,
weaken,
diminish,
turn down,
decrease,
slow down,
cut down,
shorten,
dilute,
impair,
curtail,
wind down,
abate,
tone down,
debase,
truncate,
abridge,
downsize,
downscale,
kennet (Australian, slang),
jeff (Australian, slang)
in the sense of shrink
Definition
to become or cause to become smaller, sometimes because of wetness, heat, or cold
The vast forests have shrunk.
Synonyms
decrease,
dwindle,
lessen,
grow or get smaller,
contract,
narrow,
diminish,
fall off,
shorten,
wrinkle,
wither,
drop off,
deflate,
shrivel,
downsize
Additional synonyms
in the sense of trim
Definition
to reduce or lower the size of
They looked at ways they could trim these costs.
Synonyms
cut back,
reduce,
decrease,
cut down,
prune,
curtail,
scale down,
slim down,
pare down,
make reductions in,
make cutbacks in,
retrench on,
dock
in the sense of trim
Definition
to reduce or lower the size of
The document has been trimmed as it passes through different hands.