The meaning of Abbreviate

verb

Shorten (a piece of writing) without losing the sense.

Usage examples:

The introduction is abridged from the author's afterword to the novel

verb

To make a written text shorter

Usage examples:

They listened to an abridged version on tape.

adjective

Existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence.

Usage examples:

Abstract concepts such as love or beauty

verb

Consider something theoretically or separately from (something else).

Usage examples:

To abstract science and religion from their historical context can lead to anachronism

noun

A summary of the contents of a book, article, or speech.

Usage examples:

An abstract of her speech

noun

A flexible or spring-loaded device for holding an object or objects together or in place.

Usage examples:

He undid two clips and lifted the lid

verb

Fasten or be fastened with a clip or clips.

Usage examples:

She clipped on a pair of diamond earrings

noun

An act of clipping or trimming something.

Usage examples:

I gave him a full clip

verb

Flatten by pressure; squeeze or press.

Usage examples:

The skirt can be folded and compressed into a relatively small bag

noun

A pad of lint or other absorbent material pressed on to part of the body to relieve inflammation or stop bleeding.

Usage examples:

A cold compress

verb

To press something into a smaller space

Usage examples:

Snow in the crater compresses into a fastest-growing glacier., firmly compress the dirt in the pot …

verb

Make (something) denser or more concentrated.

Usage examples:

The morning play on saturday was condensed into a half-hour package

verb

Make narrower, especially by encircling pressure.

Usage examples:

Chemicals that constrict the blood vessels

verb

To make or become tighter and narrower

Usage examples:

[ t ] bright sunlight constricts the pupil of the eye.

noun

A written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law.

Usage examples:

He has just signed a contract keeping him with the club

verb

Decrease in size, number, or range.

Usage examples:

Glass contracts as it cools

noun

A legal document that states and explains a formal agreement between two different people or groups, or the agreement itself

Usage examples:

She already has a contract for her next book with a publisher., i have no other contractual obligat…

noun

A cultivated plant that is grown on a large scale commercially, especially a cereal, fruit, or vegetable.

Usage examples:

The main crops were oats and barley

verb

Cut (something, especially a person's hair) very short.

Usage examples:

She cropped her long golden hair

verb

Short for riding crop or hunting crop.

verb

Reduce in extent or quantity; impose a restriction on.

Usage examples:

Civil liberties were further curtailed

verb

To reduce or limit something, or to stop something before it is finished

Usage examples:

He had to curtail his speech when time ran out.

verb

To reduce or limit something

Usage examples:

The federal reserve raised interest rates slightly to curtail inflation., the last government sever…

verb

Make an opening, incision, or wound in (something) with a sharp-edged tool or object.

Usage examples:

He cut his toe on a sharp stone

noun

A stroke or blow given by a sharp-edged implement or by a whip or cane.

Usage examples:

He could skin an animal with a single cut of the knife

verb

Separate with or as if with an instrument

verb

Break down (food) in the alimentary canal into substances that can be absorbed and used by the body.

Usage examples:

In terms of the western view of digestion, food is digested in the stomach and passed on to the sma…

noun

A compilation or summary of material or information.

Usage examples:

A digest of their findings

verb

(of the body of a living creature) to chemically change food into smaller forms that the body can absorb and use

Usage examples:

[ t ] some people have difficulty digesting milk., he could digest an enormous amount of informatio…

verb

Prepare (written material) for publication by correcting, condensing, or otherwise modifying it.

Usage examples:

Volume i was edited by j. johnson

noun

A change or correction made as a result of editing.

Usage examples:

The system has no word wrap feature—so even small edits involved extensive rekeying

verb

Prepare for publication or presentation by revising

idiom

To reduce something to a level at which only what is absolutely necessary is left

noun

A summary or abstract of a text or speech.

Usage examples:

The precis accompanying the weekly summaries of incidents also make it possible to explore in more …

verb

Make a precis of (a text or speech).

Usage examples:

She wrote one of the best and most intelligent dissections of the case, and to precis her, she poin…

noun

A short form of a text that gives only the important parts

noun

A plum preserved by drying and having a black, wrinkled appearance.

Usage examples:

However, just as raisins seem different from grapes, so do prunes appear to be distinct from plums.

verb

Trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to encourage growth.

Usage examples:

Now is the time to prune roses

noun

An instance of trimming a tree, shrub, or bush.

Usage examples:

They need little care other than an annual prune

verb

Make smaller or less in amount, degree, or size.

Usage examples:

The need for businesses to reduce costs

verb

Make smaller

verb

To make something less in size, amount, degree, importance, or price

Usage examples:

A low-fat diet can reduce the risk of heart disease., grunn employs 17,900 people, but that number …

verb

Make or become shorter.

Usage examples:

He shortened his stride

verb

Make short or shorter

verb

To make something shorter in length, distance, or height

Usage examples:

I’d like to have this jacket shortened by about two inches., a high school knee injury probably sho…

verb

Become or make smaller in size or amount.

Usage examples:

The workforce shrank to a thousand

noun

A psychiatrist.

Usage examples:

You should see a shrink

verb

To become smaller or cause something to become smaller

Usage examples:

[ i ] the show’s audience has shrunk in the last few months., [ t ] i shrank my sweater by putting …

verb

Give a brief statement of the main points of (something).

Usage examples:

These results can be summarized in the following table

verb

Briefly present the main points of something

verb

To provide a clear statement of the important points

Usage examples:

[ t ] before each episode, the narrator summarizes earlier events in the story.

verb

Give a brief summary or general survey of (something)

Usage examples:

Here's my 5-minute attempt to synopsize the events of the last few weeks

noun

An optical instrument designed to make distant objects appear nearer, containing an arrangement of lenses, or of curved mirrors and lenses, by which rays of light are collected and focused and the resulting image magnified.

Usage examples:

We use electromagnetic waves to detect and image objects: light waves for optical microscopes and t…

verb

(with reference to an object made of concentric tubular parts) slide or cause to slide into itself, so that it becomes smaller.

Usage examples:

Five steel sections that telescope into one another

noun

A cylindrical device that you look through to make objects that are far away look nearer and bigger

Usage examples:

My camera’s telescopic lens lets me take great close-ups., redford telescoped decades of history in…