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.

And then we would be off to the station, hand in hand, I lengthening my strides and he shortening his to keep in step.

From Literature

“I made the shortened biscuits myself,” Tansy said, speaking low because Aunt Maud was somewhere about the place.

From Literature

In cases where the patient was expected to die of their illness before then, the period could be shortened to as little as 48 hours.

From BBC

Ba had found his tongue and was explaining that the fair weather had sped up his ship, shortening the time at sea.

From Literature

The year that Mr. Gifford competed, even more extreme heat led to the race being shortened to 75 miles.

From The Wall Street Journal