curtails

Verb

curtail (third-person singular simple present curtails, present participle curtailing, simple past and past participle curtailed)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To cut short the tail of (an animal).
   • Curtailing horses procured long horse-hair.

   Synonyms:

   crop, dock

2. (transitive) To shorten or abridge the duration of; to bring an end to; to truncate.
   • When the audience grew restless, the speaker curtailed her speech.

   Synonyms:

   abbreviate

3. (figuratively, transitive) To limit or restrict; to keep in check.
   • This is the rump of the C.L.C. branch to Southport Lord Street, which lost its passenger services beyond Aintree from January 7, 1952, whereupon the timetable between Gateacre and Aintree was greatly curtailed.1960 December, “Talking of Trains: Branch report”, in Trains Illustrated, page 708

   Synonyms:

   behedge

See all 4 meanings of curtail