MEANING
1. To shorten a work by removing material while preserving its main substance.
2. To reduce or restrict the exercise of a right or freedom.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- abridge a novel
- abridged edition
On the page
The editor refused to abridge the letters that explained her disappearance.
He abridged the chronicle for readers who would never enter the archive.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- abridge
- Past tense
- abridged
- Past participle
- abridged
- Present participle
- abridging
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- abridge
- Present continuous
- am/is/are abridging
- Present perfect
- have/has abridged
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been abridging
- Past
- abridged
- Past continuous
- was/were abridging
- Past perfect
- had abridged
- Past perfect continuous
- had been abridging
- Future
- will abridge
- Future continuous
- will be abridging
- Future perfect
- will have abridged
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been abridging
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: abridge; abridges; abridged; abridged; abridging Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: abridges.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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