Crossword clues for curtail
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Curtail \Cur*tail"\ (k[u^]r*t[=a]l"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Curtailed (-t[=a]ld"); p. pr. & vb. n. Curtailing.] [See Curtal.] To cut off the end or tail, or any part, of; to shorten; to abridge; to diminish; to reduce.
I, that am curtailed of this fair proportion.
--Shak.
Our incomes have been curtailed; his salary has been
doubled.
--Macaulay.
Curtail \Cur"tail\ (k?r"t?l), n. The scroll termination of any architectural member, as of a step, etc.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
late 15c., from Middle French courtault "made short," from court "short" (Old French cort, from Latin curtus; see curt) + -ault pejorative suffix of Germanic origin. Originally curtal; used of horses with docked tails, which probably influenced the spelling in general use; curtal is retained in poetics to describe a "shortened" stanza or poem. Related: Curtailed; curtailing.
Wiktionary
n. (context architecture English) A scroll termination, as of a step, etc. vb. 1 (context transitive obsolete English) To cut short the tail of an animal 2 (context transitive English) To shorten or abridge the duration of something; to truncate. 3 (context transitive figuratively English) To limit or restrict, keep in check.
WordNet
Usage examples of "curtail".
Citing security threats, the FBI withdrew its agents from Yemen, severely curtailing the probe into the bombing of the Cole.
Meanwhile, as though in peacetime, I had become a trained and experienced U-boat commander, and a whole year had passed Later, when there were more new boats but also more losses training time was curtailed and this would have its consequences.
The making of an argument was curtailed as the Bullnose Morris reached the junction of Tallow Dock Lane and Westferry Road.
All hopes to establish negotiations and thus curtail Hiver incursions in the Star League are thwarted.
Forced to curtail some of his more obviously sinister activities for the time, Par-Chavorlem had unwillingly given more freedom to the bipeds who worked in the City.
In 1616, a pope and a cardinal inquisitor reprimanded Galileo, warning him to curtail his forays into the supernal realms.
Curtail the foreigners by, for instance, speeding up deportation procedures for illegals and tightening regulations for family members to join immigrants already in Germany.
Gaius Gracchus legislated to try to curtail that, and to stop the smallholdings of Italy becoming the prey of big-time speculating graziers!
Each of those dissociations and alienationsof the transpersonal, the interpersonal, and the prepersonalwould severely curtail its cherished freedom.
He had come to believe that those Ayatollahs and Mullahs, in curtailing freedom of choice and in punishing severely the slightest variance from what they proclaimed as God's plan, were in fact acting for God.
In an effort to curtail these losses, many Castles switched to having customers pay when they ordered, instead of the old practice of paying after they had eaten their meals.
Criminals’ rights were curtailed and stricter sentencing guidelines put in place.
Before he knew it, Rosie was through the curtailed restatement of the first section and sent the keys pounding toward the rising climax.
The magics that had made Ischade free of the place were severely curtailed since the loss of the Globes of Power.
Never mind that his prison was the many acres of his father's ranch: his freedom of movement had been severely curtailed and he was unused to that.