as in abbreviation
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as in reducing
to make less in extent or duration
we decided to shorten the distance we had to walk home by cutting across the neighbor's lawn if Grandma has to go shopping today, you'll need to shorten your visit
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shortening
Literary Hub, 8 Dec. 2025
Hollywood’s shift to streaming has turned its business model on its side – shortening films’ exclusivity periods in theaters to around 45 days from two months, reducing the number of writers on shows and the number of episodes in a season.
—David Goldman, CNN Money, 6 Dec. 2025
Rita Pelczar, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Dec. 2025
Fox’s four-season pickup of the series earlier this year included shortening those seasons to 15 episodes each; the previous two had 18 episodes, and for most of The Simpsons’ life a season meant 20 or more.
—Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shortening
Noun
But the economic upswing in Germany is not shared by steel and coal workers in the Ruhr area, where strikes for fair wages and a shortening of the sixty-hour work week prompt steel barons to order massive lockouts and layoffs.
—Verb
Focus on removing dead or damaged branches and shortening those that remain.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for shortening
Noun
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The acronym is a direct reference to these textile blends’ chemical abbreviations (polyester and cotton) and the project’s primary goal (upcycling).—
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Unfortunately for some, this abbreviation, and others like it, are banned from license plates in North Carolina.—
Verb
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Once stationary, deactivate all lights except the hazard flashers, engage the emergency brake, and release the brake pedal to ensure your tail lights are not illuminated, reducing the risk of other drivers colliding with your stationary vehicle.—
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Permeable pavers allow rainwater to soak into the ground, reducing flood risk, while offering an upscale look.—
Noun
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Many types of utopias have been articulated in late-modern culture, each one a distillation of some community’s desire for relief from the strictures and curtailments of life’s possibilities.—
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Its manifesto centered on curtailment of the power of the railroads, federal loans to aid farmers in debt, and currency reform that entailed reintroducing Hamilton’s old silver dollar alongside the gold dollar to ease monetary conditions, which would give debtors a chance to clear their loans.—
Verb
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Edo also followed Prince William and Kate Middleton's lead with the sweet sign off for his latest social post by abbreviating the children's first names with their initials to send an online message.—
Noun
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Pearson, an ex-NYPD inspector who was empowered by Adams to exercise significant sway over the city’s law enforcement and contracting operations, hasn’t furnished any text messages in response to discovery demands, Scola wrote.—
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This month, the number of those businesses that are certified for preference in state contracting dropped again, extending a 17-month downward trend.—
Noun
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Byrne's team assessed the potential for tectonic activity on Europa's seafloor with a new model that factored in stresses from gravitational tides incurred by Jupiter, the long-term contraction of the moon as its interior gradually cools and the convection of heat energy through the mantle.—
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Calcium promotes muscle contraction, including in the smooth muscle that lines blood vessels.—
Verb
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But lawmakers and Kemp have balked at curtailing those measures in recent years.—
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In virtually all cases outside of Detroit, newspapers concluded their partnerships with mergers, one partner shuttering its operations or the smaller paper dramatically curtailing operations.—
Noun
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Hassan’s team instead squeezed a photon’s intensity and demonstrated real-time control, fluctuating between intensity and phase-squeezing by adjusting the silica’s position relative to the beams.—
Cite this Entry
“Shortening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shortening. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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