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1. Cut short
   "the shortened rope was easier to use"
   - sawed-off [N. Amer], sawn-off [Brit]
    
2. Cut short in duration
   "her shortened life was clearly the result of smoking"
   - abbreviated, truncated
    
3. Shortened by or as if by means of parts that slide one within another or are crushed one into another
   - telescoped
    
4. With parts removed
   - cut

1. Make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration
   "He shortened his trip due to illness"
    
2. Reduce in scope while retaining essential elements
   "The manuscript must be shortened"
   - abridge, foreshorten, abbreviate, cut, contract, reduce
    
3. Make short or shorter
   "shorten the skirt"; "shorten the rope by a few inches"
    
4. Become short or shorter
   "In winter, the days shorten"
    
5. Edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
   - bowdlerize, bowdlerise [Brit], expurgate, castrate

See also: abridged, short, shortener, shortening

Type of: alter, bring down, change, cut, cut back, cut down, decrease, diminish, fall, lessen, minify, modify, reduce, trim, trim back, trim down

Antonym: lengthen

Encyclopedia: Shorten