Abbreviate

abbreviate
    v 1: reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The
         manuscript must be shortened" [syn: {abridge},
         {foreshorten}, {abbreviate}, {shorten}, {cut}, {contract},
         {reduce}] [ant: {dilate}, {elaborate}, {enlarge}, {expand},
         {expatiate}, {exposit}, {expound}, {flesh out},
         {lucubrate}]
    2: shorten; "Abbreviate `New York' and write `NY'"
    

Abbreviate \Ab*bre"vi*ate\ ([a^]b*br[=e]"v[i^]*[=a]t), v. t.
   [imp. & p. p. {Abbreviated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Abbreviating}.]
   [L. abbreviatus, p. p. of abbreviare; ad + breviare to
   shorten, fr. brevis short. See {Abridge}.]
   1. To make briefer; to shorten; to abridge; to reduce by
      contraction or omission, especially of words written or
      spoken.
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            It is one thing to abbreviate by contracting,
            another by cutting off.               --Bacon.
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   2. (Math.) To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.
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Abbreviate \Ab*bre"vi*ate\ ([a^]b*br[=e]"v[i^]*[asl]t), a. [L.
   abbreviatus, p. p.]
   1. Abbreviated; abridged; shortened. [R.] "The abbreviate
      form." --Earle.
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   2. (Biol.) Having one part relatively shorter than another or
      than the ordinary type.
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Abbreviate \Ab*bre"vi*ate\, n.
   An abridgment. [Obs.] --Elyot.
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88 Moby Thesaurus words for "abbreviate":
      abridge, abstract, attenuate, be telegraphic, blot out,
      blue-pencil, bob, boil down, bowdlerize, cancel, capsulize, censor,
      circumscribe, clip, coarct, compact, compress, concentrate,
      condense, consolidate, constrict, constringe, contract, cramp,
      crop, cross out, curtail, cut, cut back, cut down, cut off short,
      cut short, decrease, delete, dock, draw, draw in, draw together,
      edit, edit out, elide, epitomize, erase, expunge, expurgate,
      extenuate, foreshorten, kill, knit, mow, narrow, nip, omit, poll,
      pollard, prune, pucker, pucker up, purse, reap, recap,
      recapitulate, reduce, rescind, retrench, rub out, shave, shear,
      shorten, slash, snub, solidify, strangle, strangulate, strike,
      strike off, strike out, stunt, sum up, summarize, synopsize,
      take in, telescope, trim, truncate, void, waste no words,
      wrinkle