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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Shorten \Short"en\, verb (used without an object) To become short or shorter; as, the day shortens in northern latitudes from June to December; a metallic rod shortens by cold.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Shorten \Short"en\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Shortened ?}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Shortening}.] [See {Short}, adjective]
1. To make short or shorter in measure, extent, or time; as, to shorten distance; to shorten a road; to shorten days of calamity.
2. To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen; to abridge; to curtail; to contract; as, to shorten work, an allowance of food, etc.
Here, where the subject is so fruitful, I am shortened by my chain. --Dryden.
3. To make deficient (as to); to deprive; -- with of.
Spoiled of his nose, and shortened of his ears. --Dryden.
4. To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, pot liquor, or the like.
{To shorten a rope} (Naut.), to take in the slack of it.
{To shorten sail} (Naut.), to reduce sail by taking it in.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
shorten
verb
1: make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration; "He shortened his trip due to illness" [ant: {lengthen}]
2: reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The manuscript must be shortened" [syn: {abridge}, {foreshorten}, {abbreviate}, {cut}, {contract}, {reduce}] [ant: {elaborate}]
3: make short or shorter; "shorten the skirt"; "shorten the rope by a few inches"
4: become short or shorter; "In winter, the days shorten" [ant: {lengthen}]
5: edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate; "bowdlerize a novel" [syn: {bowdlerize}, {bowdlerise}, {expurgate}, {castrate}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
121 Moby Thesaurus words for "shorten": abate, abbreviate, abrade, abridge, abstract, bate, be telegraphic, bob, bobtail, boil down, brief, capsule, capsulize, circumscribe, clip, coarct, compact, compress, concentrate, condense, consolidate, constrict, constringe, contract, cramp, crop, curtail, cut, cut back, cut down, cut off short, cut short, damp, dampen, decrease, deduct, deflate, depreciate, depress, derogate, detract, digest, diminish, disparage, dock, downgrade, drain, draw, draw in, draw together, eat away, elide, epitomize, erode, excerpt, extract, file away, foreshorten, hem, impair, knit, leach, lessen, lower, minify, minimize, mow, narrow, nip, nutshell, outline, pare, poll, pollard, prune, pucker, pucker up, purify, purse, reap, recap, recapitulate, reduce, refine, remove, retrench, roll back, rub away, scale down, shave, shear, shrink, simplify, sketch, sketch out, slash, snub, solidify, step down, strangle, strangulate, stunt, subduct, subtract, sum up, summarize, synopsize, take away, take from, take in, telescope, thin, thin out, trim, truncate, tune down, waste no words, wear away, weed, withdraw, wrinkle
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
Shorten A form of {lossless} {audio} {compression}. [Details?] (2001-12-17)
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