shorten

raccourcir, abréger

Réduire la longueur ou la durée de quelque chose, ou devenir plus court.

En anglais simple : To make something less long, or to become less long.

• Can you shorten these trousers?
• We shortened the meeting by half an hour.
• The days shorten as winter approaches.

Comment l'utiliser : shorten something by something (She shortened the skirt by five centimeters.); shorten something to something (Please shorten your speech to ten minutes.)

Synonymes : reduce, cut, abridge

Contraires : lengthen, extend

Expressions courantes : shorten a skirt, shorten the journey, shorten a speech

réduire, diminuer

Faire diminuer la quantité de quelque chose.

En anglais simple : To make the amount or quantity of something smaller.

• They shortened the sailors’ food allowance.
• The captain shortened their daily ration again.
• Poor harvests had shortened the supply of grain.

Synonymes : reduce, decrease, lessen

Contraires : increase

Expressions courantes : shorten the allowance, shorten the supply