make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration;
"He shortened his trip due to illness"
reduce in scope while retaining essential elements;
"The manuscript must be shortened"
make short or shorter;
"shorten the skirt" "shorten the rope by a few inches"
become short or shorter;
"In winter, the days shorten"
edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate;
"bowdlerize a novel"
组词搭配
~+名词
shorten sails收帆减速
shorten a skirt将裙子改短
shorten the span缩短时间
~+介词
shorten by cold遇冷会缩短
shorten sth by an inch把某物缩短一英寸
shorten into缩短为
shorten to压缩到
例句
用作动词(v.)
Ive asked him to shorten my trousers.我让他把我的裤子弄短点。
All you need to do is to shorten the sleeves of the dress instead of picking the whole thing apart.你要做的只是将袖子弄短,而不是将整件衣服拆开。
The days are beginning to shorten.白天开始变短了。
The vehicles that press down on a bridge's roadway compress the top half of the road, causing it to shorten like a compressed spring.那些从桥上过压紧桥面的车辆会导致路面上半部分的压缩,使其想被压缩的弹簧一样变短。