SHORTENED • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Shortened

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/ʃˈɔrtənd/ Listen

verb

Shorten v. t. (past & past part. shortened; pres. part. shortening)

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

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."

To make deficient (as to); to deprive; with of. "Spoiled of his nose, and shortened of his ears."

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.

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

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Etymology of 'Shortened'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Shortened" Quotes from Famous Books

... as our days are numbered; if, by the immutable law of nature, apathy be the sleep of passion, and languor the necessary consequence of exertion; if indeed the pleasures of life are so ill proportioned to its duration, oh, may that duration be shortened to me!—Kind Heaven, let not my soul die before ...

— Tales And Novels, Vol. 8 • Maria Edgeworth

... The rain was falling very slightly now, and the wind was shifting to the east and rapidly rising. Sam directed the boys to shorten sail, and showed them how to do it. The wind grew stronger and stronger, suddenly shifting to the south. The sail was still further shortened. The sea now began coming up, and Sam saw that their chief danger was that of getting washed overboard. He cautioned the boys against this, and changed the boat's course, so as to keep her as nearly as possible where she was. A heavy sea broke over her, and carried ...

— Captain Sam - The Boy Scouts of 1814 • George Cary Eggleston

... Danley could not be a Bolo armored train but was a sawmill smoke stack. Suddenly it flashed. Then came the distant boom. Came then the whining, twist-whistling shell that passed over us and showered shrapnel near the trenches where lay our reserves. He shortened his range but we hurried on and closed with his infantry with the decision in the American doughboy's favor in his first fight. He had learned that it takes many shrapnel shells and bullets to hit one man, that to be hit is not necessarily to ...

— The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki - Campaigning in North Russia 1918-1919 • Joel R. Moore

... Prince? His mother was the daughter of an Azechi Dainagon, who was my uncle. She enjoyed a good reputation, and when she was introduced at Court, became both prosperous and distinguished. Although her life was shortened by the suffering caused by the fierce jealousy of her rivals, she left behind the royal child, who is no other person than Prince Genji. A woman should always be aspiring, as this lady was. What objection then is there in the idea of introducing ...

— Japanese Literature - Including Selections from Genji Monogatari and Classical - Poetry and Drama of Japan • Various

... amusements, is to promote health, and prepare for more serious duties, selecting those which have a directly opposite tendency, cannot be justified. Of course, if a person feel that the previous day's diversions have shortened the hours of needful repose, or induced a lassitude of mind or body, instead of invigorating them, it is certain that an evil has been done, which ...

— A Treatise on Domestic Economy - For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School • Catherine Esther Beecher

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