shorten

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To make short or shorter.
2. v. Nautical To take in (a sail) so that less canvas is exposed to the wind, thereby reducing speed.
3. v. To reduce in force, efficacy, or intensity.
4. v. To add shortening to (dough) so as to make flaky.
5. v. To become short or shorter.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To become short or shorter; contract; diminish in length: as, ropes shorten when wet.
2. To make anything short: used with in in the nautical phrase to shorten in on the cable, to heave in short or shorter.
3. To come short; fail.
4. To make short or shorter; abridge; curtail: as, to shorten hours of work; to shorten the skirt of a dress.
5. To make appear short: as, pleasant companionship shortens a journey; a concave mirror shortens the face.
6. Figuratively, to make inefficient or incapable. Compare short-armed.
7. To take in; contract; lessen in extent or amount: as, to shorten sail; to shorten an allowance.
8. To check; confine; restrain.
9. To deprive.
10. To cause to come short or fail.
11. To make short or friable, as pastry with butter or lard.
12. To pronounce or measure as short: as, to shorten a vowel or syllable.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive To make shorter; to abbreviate.
2. v. intransitive To become shorter.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To make short or shorter in measure, extent, or time
2. v. To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen; to abridge; to curtail; to contract
3. v. To make deficient (as to); to deprive; -- with of.
4. v. To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, pot liquor, or the like.
5. v. To become short or shorter

WordNet 3.0

1. v. make short or shorter
2. v. make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration
3. v. reduce in scope while retaining essential elements
4. v. become short or shorter
5. v. edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate