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shorten

short·en
S s

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [shawr-tn]
    • /ˈʃɔr tn/
    • /ˈʃɔː.tən/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [shawr-tn]
    • /ˈʃɔr tn/

Definitions of shorten word

  • verb with object shorten to make short or shorter. 1
  • verb with object shorten to reduce, decrease, take in, etc.: to shorten sail. 1
  • verb with object shorten to make (pastry, bread, etc.) short, as with butter or other fat. 1
  • verb with object shorten Sports. choke (def 8). 1
  • verb without object shorten to become short or shorter. 1
  • verb without object shorten (of odds) to decrease. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of shorten

First appearance:

before 1505
One of the 26% oldest English words
First recorded in 1505-15; short + -en1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Shorten

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

shorten popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 81% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

shorten usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for shorten

verb shorten

  • abridge — to reduce the length of (a written work) by condensing or rewriting
  • abstract — An abstract idea or way of thinking is based on general ideas rather than on real things and events.
  • bankrupted — Law. a person who upon his or her own petition or that of his or her creditors is adjudged insolvent by a court and whose property is administered for and divided among his or her creditors under a bankruptcy law.
  • bant — string
  • banted — to lose weight by practicing Bantingism.

Antonyms for shorten

verb shorten

  • aggrandize — To aggrandize someone means to make them seem richer, more powerful, and more important than they really are. To aggrandize a building means to make it more impressive.
  • amplify — If you amplify a sound, you make it louder, usually by using electronic equipment.
  • arch — An arch is a structure that is curved at the top and is supported on either side by a pillar, post, or wall.
  • arcing — Geometry. any unbroken part of the circumference of a circle or other curved line.
  • arcked — a simple past tense and past participle of arc.

Top questions with shorten

  • how to shorten your period?
  • how to shorten period?
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  • how to shorten a url?
  • how to shorten a quote?
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  • how to shorten a zipper?
  • how to shorten a chain?
  • how to shorten a link for twitter?
  • how to shorten a shirt?
  • how to shorten youtube videos?
  • how to shorten a watch band?
  • how to shorten refractory period?
  • how to shorten a period?

See also

Matching words

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