shortens

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.

See Examples For:

shortens

The problem, Shurety points out, is that longer fire seasons and more rain during cooler months shortens the window that such burns can be carried out.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

This not only creates more room for components but also shortens wiring distances, reducing parasitic capacitance and significantly increasing communication bandwidth between different parts of a chip.

From Science Daily ● May 30, 2026

Slicing the chicken speeds up the flavor exchange and shortens the cook time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026

The urgency has grown as his career runway shortens.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2026

“The king shortens no man’s shadow, though he may try,” Estraven remarked, and the cook looked satisfied.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin