abridging

verb

present participle of abridge
as in shortening
to make less in extent or duration the library's hours have been drastically abridged to cut costs

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of abridging Advertisement The Fifteenth Amendment had prohibited denying or abridging voting rights based on race, color, or conditions of previous servitude. — Time, 29 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abridging
  1. shortening
  2. curtailing
Verb
  • Anthropic also observed models using URL-shortening services to work around limits designed to restrict certain web requests.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2026
  • As an investor at Point72, the hedge fund of billionaire Steve Cohen, Shaffer watched Wall Street turn private fund shares into digital tokens without shortening investors’ waits to cash out.
    — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of shortening
Verb
  • Iran is now stepping up attacks on tankers transiting Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, curtailing the volume of oil exiting the region and keeping global crude prices north of $100 a barrel.
    — Lou Robinson, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Has the time come for the Dodgers to consider curtailing his pitching?
    — Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of curtailing

Browse Nearby Words

abridges
abridging
abridgment
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Abridging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abridging. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All