abridge

3 definitions found

abridge - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Abridge \A*bridge"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abridged; p. pr. &
     vb. n. Abridging.] [OE. abregen, OF. abregier, F.
     abr['e]ger, fr. L. abbreviare; ad + brevis short. See Brief
     and cf. Abbreviate.]
     1. To make shorter; to shorten in duration; to lessen; to
        diminish; to curtail; as, to abridge labor; to abridge
        power or rights. "The bridegroom . . . abridged his
        visit." --Smollett.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              She retired herself to Sebaste, and abridged her
              train from state to necessity.        --Fuller.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining
        the sense; to epitomize; to condense; as, to abridge a
        history or dictionary.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To deprive; to cut off; -- followed by of, and formerly by
        from; as, to abridge one of his rights.
        [1913 Webster]

abridge - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  abridge
      v 1: reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The
           manuscript must be shortened" [syn: abridge,
           foreshorten, abbreviate, shorten, cut, contract,
           reduce] [ant: dilate, elaborate, enlarge, expand,
           expatiate, exposit, expound, flesh out,
           lucubrate]
      2: lessen, diminish, or curtail; "the new law might abridge our
         freedom of expression"

abridge - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  107 Moby Thesaurus words for "abridge":
     abbreviate, abstract, bereave, bleed, blot out, blue-pencil, bob,
     boil down, bowdlerize, brief, cancel, capsule, capsulize, censor,
     clip, compress, condense, contract, crop, cross out, curtail, cut,
     cut back, cut down, cut off, cut off short, cut short, damp,
     dampen, decrease, deduct, deflate, delete, depreciate, depress,
     deprive, deprive of, digest, diminish, disentitle, divest, dock,
     downgrade, drain, ease one of, edit, edit out, elide, epitomize,
     erase, expunge, expurgate, foreshorten, kill, lessen,
     lighten one of, limit, lower, milk, mine, minify, minimize, mow,
     narrow, nip, nutshell, omit, outline, pare, poll, pollard, prune,
     reap, recap, recapitulate, reduce, rescind, restrict, retrench,
     roll back, rub out, scale down, shave, shear, shorten, simplify,
     sketch, sketch out, slash, snub, step down, strike, strike off,
     strike out, stunt, sum up, summarize, synopsize, take away from,
     take from, take in, tap, telescope, trim, truncate, tune down,
     void