What does shorten mean?
Definitions for shorten
ˈʃɔr tnshort·en
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word shorten.
Princeton's WordNet
shortenverb
make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration
"He shortened his trip due to illness"
abridge, foreshorten, abbreviate, shorten, cut, contract, reduceverb
reduce in scope while retaining essential elements
"The manuscript must be shortened"
shortenverb
make short or shorter
"shorten the skirt"; "shorten the rope by a few inches"
shortenverb
become short or shorter
"In winter, the days shorten"
bowdlerize, bowdlerise, expurgate, castrate, shortenverb
edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
"bowdlerize a novel"
Wiktionary
shortenverb
To make shorter; to abbreviate.
shortenverb
To become shorter.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
To Shortenverb
Etymology: from short.
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.
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.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.
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.
Dishonest with lopt arms the youth appears,
Spoil’d of his nose, and shorten’d of his ears. Dryden.
ChatGPT
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 Dictionary
Shortenadjective
to make short or shorter in measure, extent, or time; as, to shorten distance; to shorten a road; to shorten days of calamity
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
Shortenadjective
to make deficient (as to); to deprive; -- with of
Shortenadjective
to make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, pot liquor, or the like
Shortenverb
to become short or shorter; as, the day shortens in northern latitudes from June to December; a metallic rod shortens by cold
Etymology: [See Short, a.]
Wikidata
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 Records
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.
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Anagrams for shorten »
thrones
hornets
threnos
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of shorten in Chaldean Numerology is: 4
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of shorten in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9
Examples of shorten in a Sentence
Intesa Sanpaolo analyst Monica Bosio:
It should help FCA and the future combined entity FCA-PSA to shorten its gap in the electric vehicles and in Asia.
To make pleasures pleasant, shorten them.
When it comes to apparel, there's no secret sauce, to shorten lead times, there's no other way than doing local production.
If you wouldst live long, live well, for folly and wickedness shorten life.
You only have to see the catastrophically reckless approach of Mr. Shorten to the China-Australia free trade agreement, surely one of the most important foundations of our prosperity, to know he is utterly unfit to be Prime Minister of this country and so he will be if we do not make a change.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for shorten
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- berraatBreton
- zkrátitCzech
- kürzer werden, verkürzenGerman
- mallongigiEsperanto
- acortar, abreviar, acortarse, reducirSpanish
- raccourcir, écourterFrench
- giorraichScottish Gaelic
- קיצרHebrew
- kurteskarIdo
- scorciareItalian
- 短縮, 短いJapanese
- abbreviōLatin
- īsināt, saīsināt, paīsinātLatvian
- скратува, крати, скусува, кусиMacedonian
- skrócić, skracaćPolish
- encurtarPortuguese
- scurtaRomanian
- укоротиться, укорачивать, укоротить, сократиться, сократить, сокращать, сокращаться, укорачиватьсяRussian
- skratiti, скратитиSerbo-Croatian
Get even more translations for shorten »
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"shorten." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 17 Mar. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/shorten>.
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