abbreviate

transitive-verb
UK: /əˈbriːvieɪt/
US: /əˈbriːvieɪt/

  1. To make a word or phrase shorter by using only some of the letters.

    1. We can abbreviate 'street' to 'st'. [ ] [ ]
    2. It's common to abbreviate 'Doctor' to 'Dr' in written English, for example. [ ] [ ]

  2. To shorten something, like a process or a piece of writing.

    1. Let's abbreviate the meeting to 30 minutes. [ ] [ ]
    2. The author decided to abbreviate the novel by removing several chapters before publishing. [ ] [ ]

Synonyms

cut reduce condense shorten
abbreviate intransitive-verb

  1. To become shorter.

    1. Does 'cannot' abbreviate to 'can't'? [ ] [ ]
    2. Over time, some words abbreviate as people find quicker ways to say or write them. [ ] [ ]

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "abbreviate" in English means: To make a word or phrase shorter by using only some of the letters., To shorten something, like a process or a piece of writing..

The phonetic transcription of "abbreviate" is /əˈbriːvieɪt/ in British English and /əˈbriːvieɪt/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "abbreviate": cut, reduce, condense, shorten.

Example usage of "abbreviate": "We can abbreviate 'street' to 'st'.". More examples on the page.