Shortening
['ʃɔːt(ə)nɪŋ] or ['ʃɔrtnɪŋ]
Definition
(noun.) act of decreasing in length; 'the dress needs shortening'.
(noun.) fat such as butter or lard used in baked goods.
Edited by Hattie--From WordNet
Definition
(p. pr. & vb. n.) of Shorten
(n.) The act of making or becoming short or shorter.
(n.) That which renders pastry short or friable, as butter, lard, etc.
Checker: Rowena
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Abbreviation, curtailment, abridgment, contraction, reduction, retrenchment.[2]. Fat, fatty substance.
Inputed by Antonia
Examples
- It is useful for the making of chains, tools, carriage axles, joining shafting, wires, and pipes, mending bands, tires, hoops, and lengthening and shortening bolts, bars, etc. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Yet she had not to complain of an undue shortening of existence; her faded person shewed that life had naturally spent itself. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- I thought you were going to tell your speech to that man, said Jo, rudely shortening her sister's little reverie. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Still he looked both handsome and superb; but time was shortening and there was only one direction to go. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Proportions, fore-shortening. Jane Austen. Emma.
Editor: Ronda