Synonyms

shortening

American

[shawrt-ning, shawr-tn-ing] / ˈʃɔrt nɪŋ, ˈʃɔr tn ɪŋ /

noun

butter, lard, or other fat, used to make pastry, bread, etc., short.
Phonetics. the act, process, or an instance of making or becoming short.
Linguistics.
1. the act or process of dropping one or more syllables from a word or phrase to form a shorter word with the same meaning, as in forming piano from pianoforte or phone from telephone.
2. clipped form.

shortening British

/ ˈʃɔːtənɪŋ /

noun

butter, lard, or other fat, used in a dough, cake mixture, etc, to make the mixture short

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of shortening

First recorded in 1535–45; shorten + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

HKEx is also dedicated to improving its market's structure and efficiency, including shortening stock clearing time, she said.

From Barron's

I also tried shortening my days to seven hours instead of 10.

From MarketWatch

Carvana has been trying to widen its supply of available cars for sale, while speeding up delivery times to customers and shortening shipping distances.

From MarketWatch

This provided clear evidence of acromesomelic dysplasia, Maroteaux type -- a very rare inherited disorder characterized by severe short stature and significant shortening of the limbs.

From Science Daily

This shortening is widely recognized as a marker of aging.

From Science Daily

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023