to reduce, decrease, take in, etc.: to shorten sail.
to make (pastry, bread, etc.) short, as with butter or other fat.
Sports. choke (def. 8).
verb (used without object)
to become short or shorter.
(of odds) to decrease.
Origin of shorten
First recorded in 1505–15; short + -en1
SYNONYMS FOR shorten
1 condense, lessen, limit, restrict.
5 contract, lessen.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR shorten ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for shorten
1. Shorten,abbreviate,abridge,curtail mean to make shorter or briefer. Shorten is a general word meaning to make less in extent or duration: to shorten a dress, a prisoner's sentence. The other three terms suggest methods of shortening. To abbreviate is to make shorter by omission or contraction: to abbreviate a word.To abridge is to reduce in length or size by condensing, summarizing, and the like: to abridge a document.Curtail suggests deprivation and lack of completeness because of omitting some part: to curtail an explanation.
OTHER WORDS FROM shorten
short·en·er,nouno·ver·short·en,verbpre·short·en,verb (used with object)re·short·en,verb
un·der·short·en,verb (used with object)un·short·en,adjective
Words nearby shorten
short-day, short-day plant, short division, short-eared owl, short elevator muscle of rib, shorten, shortened form, shortening, Shorter, Shorter Catechism, shortfall
The second shortened the amount of time laid-off employees have to decide whether they want to come back.
Morning Report: A Questionable Stat That’s Guiding Reopening|Voice of San Diego|September 9, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Advertisers followed through on their plans to negotiate options to cancel a higher amount of their committed ad dollars and to shorten the deadlines for when cancelation requests need to be submitted before a quarter begins.
‘There wasn’t a huge shift’: TV upfront market did not undergo expected overhaul this year|Tim Peterson|September 9, 2020|Digiday
The tools Cleveland uses are meant in part to shorten the throwing motion.
Cleveland’s League-Leading Rotation Relies On Homegrown Talent … From A Single Draft|Travis Sawchik|August 25, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Response times shortened vastly as Mayo Clinic and these partners focused on an immediate shared goal.
COVID-19 has spurred rapid transformation in health care. Let’s make sure it stays that way|jakemeth|August 20, 2020|Fortune
The 20th amendment was ratified to shorten the period between the presidential election in November and the inauguration, which had been in March.
Trump Can’t Postpone The Election, But He Can Delegitimize The Results.|Sarah Frostenson (sarah.frostenson@abc.com)|July 30, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
“In some cases, it has taken 15 days to report the deaths and circumstances, which I would like to shorten to 48 hours,” she said.
Did This Flu Vaccine Kill 13?|Barbie Latza Nadeau|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We have to shorten the distance between inevitable and inconceivable.
Square Deal, New Deal, and Now, From Hillary Clinton, a “Fair Shot”|Eleanor Clift|September 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Just like nobody is going to tell David O. Russell to shorten American Hustle (138 minutes).
Our Pop Culture Wish List for 2014|Kevin Fallon|December 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
A new study says living in the South will shorten your life.
Study Proves Southern States Have Lowest Life Expectancy|Eliza Shapiro|July 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
We have to overturn Citizens United and shorten the campaign season.
David Stockman on ‘The Great Deformation’ and Our Economic Doom|Daniel Gross|April 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
If the King desires to shorten my days he has only to keep me in captivity.
The Life of Marie de Medicis, Vol. 3 (of 3)|Julia Pardoe
Cantor Weiss is very bitter against the up-town cantors: "They shorten the prayer," he said.
The Spirit of the Ghetto|Hutchins Hapgood
The most they can do is to shorten a life that has already almost finished its career.
The Blossoms of Morality|Richard Johnson
Or could he have secured the same result by moving his finger up and down the string to lengthen or shorten it?
Common Science|Carleton W. Washburne
Let us shorten the story wherever we can, for it will need it, being long.
Life On The Mississippi, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
British Dictionary definitions for shorten
shorten
/ (ˈʃɔːtən) /
verb
to make or become short or shorter
(tr)nauticalto reduce the area of (sail)
(tr)to make (pastry, bread, etc) short, by adding butter or another fat
gamblingto cause (the odds) to lessen or (of odds) to become less