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
  • In a statement, the city of Littleton said, after research and an evaluation with consultants, in some cases, shortening school zones increases driver awareness and improves overall safety for drivers and students.
    — Ashley Portillo, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Flock, which says its customers own the data that the cameras record, is also shortening the standard data retention window from 30 days to seven.
    — Sarah Rankin, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of shortening
Verb
  • The United States should expect Beijing to continue to wield its agriculture sector for geopolitical influence, whether through curtailing imports of food, restricting exports of select commodities, or both.
    — Caitlin Welsh, Foreign Affairs, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Strangely, one copy of KL-VS is fortuitous, but inheriting one from each parent can backfire, reducing Klotho levels and curtailing lifespan for reasons scientists do not fully understand.
    — Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 9 Aug. 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 17 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on abridging

Nglish: Translation of abridging for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

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

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
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
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All