Find the word definition

Crossword clues for abridging

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Abridging

Abridge \A*bridge"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abridged; p. pr. & vb. n. Abridging.] [OE. abregen, OF. abregier, F. abr['e]ger, fr. L. abbreviare; ad + brevis short. See Brief and cf. Abbreviate.]

  1. To make shorter; to shorten in duration; to lessen; to diminish; to curtail; as, to abridge labor; to abridge power or rights. ``The bridegroom . . . abridged his visit.''
    --Smollett.

    She retired herself to Sebaste, and abridged her train from state to necessity.
    --Fuller.

  2. To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining the sense; to epitomize; to condense; as, to abridge a history or dictionary.

  3. To deprive; to cut off; -- followed by of, and formerly by from; as, to abridge one of his rights.

Wiktionary
abridging

vb. (present participle of abridge English)

Usage examples of "abridging".

To what but a cultivation of the mechanical arts in a degree disproportioned to the presence of the creative faculty, which is the basis of all knowledge, is to be attributed the abuse of all invention for abridging and combining labour, to the exasperation of the inequality of mankind?