Definitions for shorten
ˈʃɔr tnshort·en

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. shortenverb

   make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration

   "He shortened his trip due to illness"

2. abridge, foreshorten, abbreviate, shorten, cut, contract, reduceverb

   reduce in scope while retaining essential elements

   "The manuscript must be shortened"

3. shortenverb

   make short or shorter

   "shorten the skirt"; "shorten the rope by a few inches"

4. shortenverb

   become short or shorter

   "In winter, the days shorten"

5. bowdlerize, bowdlerise, expurgate, castrate, shortenverb

   edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate

   "bowdlerize a novel"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. shortenverb

   To make shorter; to abbreviate.

2. shortenverb

   To become shorter.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. To Shortenverb

   Etymology: from short.

   1. To make short, either in time or space.

   Because they see it is not generally fit, or possible, that churches should frame thanksgivings answerable to each petition, they shorten somewhat the reins of their censure. Richard Hooker.

   Would you have been so brief with him, he would
   Have been so brief with you, to shorten you,
   For taking so the head, the whole head’s length. William Shakespeare.

   To shorten its ways to knowledge, and make each perception more comprehensive, it binds them into bundles. John Locke.

   None shall dare
   With shorten’d sword to stab in closer war,
   But in fair combat. Dryden.

   War, and luxury’s more direful rage,
   Thy crimes have brought, to shorten mortal breath,
   With all the num’rous family of death. Dryden.

   Whatever shortens the fibres, by insinuating themselves into their parts, as water in a rope, contracts. Arbuthnot.

   2. To contract; to abbreviate.

   We shorten’d days to moments by love’s art,
   Whilst our two souls
   Perceiv’d no passing time, as if a part
   Our love had been of still eternity. John Suckling.

   3. To confine; to hinder from progression.

   To be known, shortens my laid intent;
   My boon I make it, that you know me not. William Shakespeare.

   Here where the subject is so fruitful, I am shortened by my chain, and can only see what is forbidden me to reach. Dryd.

   4. To cut off; to defeat.

   The Irish dwell altogether by their septs, so as they may conspire what they will; whereas if there were English placed among them, they should not be able to stir but that it should be known, and they shortened according to their demerits. Edmund Spenser.

   5. To lop.

   Dishonest with lopt arms the youth appears,
   Spoil’d of his nose, and shorten’d of his ears. Dryden.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. shorten

   To shorten means to make or become less in length, duration, or extent; to reduce in size or amount. It can apply to physical objects, events, conversations, written materials, among others.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Shortenadjective

   to make short or shorter in measure, extent, or time; as, to shorten distance; to shorten a road; to shorten days of calamity

2. Shortenadjective

   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

3. Shortenadjective

   to make deficient (as to); to deprive; -- with of

4. Shortenadjective

   to make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, pot liquor, or the like

5. Shortenverb

   to become short or shorter; as, the day shortens in northern latitudes from June to December; a metallic rod shortens by cold

6. Etymology: [See Short, a.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Shorten

   Shorten is a file format used for compressing audio data. It is a form of data compression of files and is used to losslessly compress CD-quality audio files. Shorten is no longer developed and other lossless audio codecs such as FLAC, Monkey's Audio, TTA, and WavPack have become more popular. However, Shorten is still in use by some people because there are legally traded concert recordings in circulation that are encoded as Shorten files. Shorten files use the .shn file extension.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. SHORTEN

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Shorten is ranked #31790 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Shorten surname appeared 726 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Shorten.
   
   79.6% or 578 total occurrences were White.
   14.1% or 103 total occurrences were Black.
   2.3% or 17 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   2% or 15 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

1. • Change
   • Cut
   • Decrease
   • Reduce

Anagrams for shorten »

1. thrones

2. hornets

3. threnos

How to pronounce shorten?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say shorten in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of shorten in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of shorten in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of shorten in a Sentence

1. Donald Trump:

   We want to see how the briefing went today and how much we learned from it, if we learned a good deal from it, it will shorten that whole process considerably.

2. World Bank President David Malpass:

   It's essential that we shorten the time to recovery, support operations are already underway, and the expanded funding tools approved today will help sustain economies, companies and jobs.

3. Jack Weinstein:

   The first question the judge asks himself is, 'If I release this person now or shorten the sentence now, will he be a greater danger to the community?' and the statistics say very clearly no.

4. Richard Jefferson:

   It’s absurd, they have done every single thing…You want to shorten the season? Like how much more do we have to make this coddling and all this stuff go with the players?

5. Joe Grogan:

   This change will support kidney donation, reduce waste, and shorten transplant wait times for years to come.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=shorten
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Shorten
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=shorten
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shorten
6. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=shorten
7. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html