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Definitions

shorten

[shawr-tn] / ˈʃɔr tn /
VERB
diminish, decrease
Synonyms
STRONGEST
abbreviate compress curtail cut cut back cut down lessen minimize reduce shrink slash trim
STRONG
abridge bob chop clip condense contract dock edit elide excerpt lop retrench snip
WEAK
blue pencil boil down cut to the bone make a long story short put in a nutshell
Antonyms
STRONGEST
develop enlarge expand extend grow increase lengthen raise strengthen stretch
WEAK
amplify elongate

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.

Eccentric exercise focuses on the phase when muscles lengthen rather than shorten.

From Science Daily • May 1, 2026

She'd actually go further and ban short-form video altogether because "they shorten children's attention spans".

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

It also allowed them to shorten a movie that originally took more than three hours to cover the early days of the Jackson 5 through Jackson’s late career, yet still felt rushed, according to Fogelson.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

There was a machinery working to shorten his punishment.

From Salon • Apr. 21, 2026

I’d sprinkled them with some cinnamon sugar, thinking they might shorten the walk home for two certain schoolkids.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

Vocabulary lists containing shorten

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