shorten

CEFRB1

/ˈʃɔːtn̩/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To make something shorter in length or time.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To become shorter.

Examples

  • Do not shorten the morning by getting up late.

  • High operating temperatures shorten lubricant life.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To make deficient (as to); to deprive (of).

  2. To make shorter; to abbreviate.

  3. To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, etc.

More examples

In context

  • to shorten an allowance of food

  • The full title of the unified system, the South Eastern & London, Chatham & Dover Railways, was decidedly cumbersome, and for the sake of convenience was shortened to the South Eastern & Chatham Railway.

  • York came round to our heads and shortened the rein himself, one hole I think; every little makes a difference, be it for better or worse, and that day we had a steep hill to go up.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The tailor had to blank the pants because they were too long.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English shortnen, schortenen, equivalent to short + -en (verbal suffix). In some senses, a continuation (in altered form) of Middle English schorten (“to make short, shorten”), from Old English sċortian (“to become short”), from Proto-Germanic *skurtōną (“to shorten”).