Abbreviate
verb
To make something shorter, especially a word or phrase.
In English, we often abbreviate 'Doctor' as 'Dr.'
Often appears as...
- abbreviate a word
- abbreviate a phrase
verb
To reduce the length or duration of a written or spoken text.
The editor needed to abbreviate the text to meet the word count requirements.
Often appears as...
- abbreviate a text
- abbreviate a speech
verb
To cut short a process or activity.
The court may abbreviate the trial if both parties agree to a settlement.
Often appears as...
- abbreviate a trial
- abbreviate a process
Usage tips
Formal
Legal
verb
To make something shorter, especially a word or phrase.
In English, we often abbreviate 'Doctor' as 'Dr.'
Often appears as...
- abbreviate a word
- abbreviate a phrase
verb
To reduce the length or duration of a written or spoken text.
The editor needed to abbreviate the text to meet the word count requirements.
Often appears as...
- abbreviate a text
- abbreviate a speech
verb
To cut short a process or activity.
The court may abbreviate the trial if both parties agree to a settlement.
Often appears as...
- abbreviate a trial
- abbreviate a process
Usage tips
Formal
Legal
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Common Abbreviations
Learn common abbreviations like 'etc.' for etcetera or 'i.e.' for that is.
In formal writing, 'etc.' is often used to abbreviate 'et cetera'.
Pro Tip 2/3Avoid Overuse
Do not overuse abbreviations; too many can make the text unclear.
Try not to abbreviate every possible word, it may confuse the reader.
Pro Tip 3/3Initialisms
An initialism is a type of abbreviation made from initial letters, spoken one by one.
FBI is the abbreviated form for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Pro Tip 1/3Common Abbreviations
Learn common abbreviations like 'etc.' for etcetera or 'i.e.' for that is.
In formal writing, 'etc.' is often used to abbreviate 'et cetera'.
Pro Tip 2/3Avoid Overuse
Do not overuse abbreviations; too many can make the text unclear.
Try not to abbreviate every possible word, it may confuse the reader.
Pro Tip 3/3Initialisms
An initialism is a type of abbreviation made from initial letters, spoken one by one.
FBI is the abbreviated form for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Pro Tip 1/3Common Abbreviations
Learn common abbreviations like 'etc.' for etcetera or 'i.e.' for that is.
In formal writing, 'etc.' is often used to abbreviate 'et cetera'.
Pro Tip 2/3Avoid Overuse
Do not overuse abbreviations; too many can make the text unclear.
Try not to abbreviate every possible word, it may confuse the reader.
Pro Tip 3/3Initialisms
An initialism is a type of abbreviation made from initial letters, spoken one by one.
FBI is the abbreviated form for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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Video examples
Shaka Senghor: Why your...
See, when I went to prison, our car phones were this big and required two people to carry them. So imagine what it was like when I first grabbed my little Blackberry and I started learning how to text. But the thing is, the people around me, they didn't realize that I had no idea what all these abbreviated texts meant,
Video examples
The power in your name PIPE...
too difficult to pronounce they call me abbreviations letters alphabets different letters of the alphabet but never my full name that makes an impact on you in many cases I contemplate it should I change my name should I abbreviate it to make it more
Video examples
Svante Pääbo: DNA clues...
which is this famous double-helical molecule. And the genetic information is contained in the form of a sequence of four bases abbreviated with the letters A, T, C and G. And the information is there twice -- one on each strand -- which is important,
Video examples
Where do math symbols...
Other symbols are used to represent operations. Some of these are especially valuable as shorthand because they condense repeated operations into a single expression. The repeated addition of the same number is abbreviated with a multiplication sign
Video examples
The paradox of...
Psychologists call this desirable difficulty. Taking detailed notes with a keyboard would seem to be the best way to grasp what a lecturer is saying, to be able to review it verbatim. However, studies have shown that when we have to abbreviate,
Video examples
The nit-picking glory of...
would get into the magazine on my watch. New Yorker style for "microphone" in its abbreviated form is "mike." Finally, there was a sticky grammar and usage issue in which the pronoun has to have the same grammatical number as its antecedent.
Video examples
Susan Blackmore: Memes...
that which is imitated. And abbreviated it to meme, just because it sounds good and made a good meme, an effective spreading meme. So that's how the idea came about. It's important to stick with that definition.
Video examples
Be humble -- and other...
So humility, harmony and openness. Those are the three lessons I learned from the philosophy of water so far. They nicely abbreviate to H-H-O, or H2O. And they have become my guiding principles in life.
Video examples
Adam Spencer: Why I fell...
but why should we care? Let me give you just three reasons why this is so beautiful. First of all, as I explained, to ask a computer "Is that number prime?" to type it in its abbreviated form,
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 360 PIPE...
got a sort of swizzle 'uncle if you like and the no doesn't the Cape glossies got a bubbling call and the great abbreviate glossy Starling has got a kind of whiny
Video examples
Shaka Senghor: Why your...
See, when I went to prison, our car phones were this big and required two people to carry them. So imagine what it was like when I first grabbed my little Blackberry and I started learning how to text. But the thing is, the people around me, they didn't realize that I had no idea what all these abbreviated texts meant,
Video examples
The power in your name PIPE...
too difficult to pronounce they call me abbreviations letters alphabets different letters of the alphabet but never my full name that makes an impact on you in many cases I contemplate it should I change my name should I abbreviate it to make it more
Video examples
Svante Pääbo: DNA clues...
which is this famous double-helical molecule. And the genetic information is contained in the form of a sequence of four bases abbreviated with the letters A, T, C and G. And the information is there twice -- one on each strand -- which is important,
Video examples
Where do math symbols...
Other symbols are used to represent operations. Some of these are especially valuable as shorthand because they condense repeated operations into a single expression. The repeated addition of the same number is abbreviated with a multiplication sign
Video examples
The paradox of...
Psychologists call this desirable difficulty. Taking detailed notes with a keyboard would seem to be the best way to grasp what a lecturer is saying, to be able to review it verbatim. However, studies have shown that when we have to abbreviate,
Video examples
The nit-picking glory of...
would get into the magazine on my watch. New Yorker style for "microphone" in its abbreviated form is "mike." Finally, there was a sticky grammar and usage issue in which the pronoun has to have the same grammatical number as its antecedent.
Video examples
Susan Blackmore: Memes...
that which is imitated. And abbreviated it to meme, just because it sounds good and made a good meme, an effective spreading meme. So that's how the idea came about. It's important to stick with that definition.
Video examples
Be humble -- and other...
So humility, harmony and openness. Those are the three lessons I learned from the philosophy of water so far. They nicely abbreviate to H-H-O, or H2O. And they have become my guiding principles in life.
Video examples
Adam Spencer: Why I fell...
but why should we care? Let me give you just three reasons why this is so beautiful. First of all, as I explained, to ask a computer "Is that number prime?" to type it in its abbreviated form,
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 360 PIPE...
got a sort of swizzle 'uncle if you like and the no doesn't the Cape glossies got a bubbling call and the great abbreviate glossy Starling has got a kind of whiny
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
RM
Korean Musician
Came from a song that I made from, like, 2012 - there was some phrase like 'Rap Monster', and I just, I thought it was so cool. But as I grow up, and as I came to America, I think it felt like too much. So I just abbreviated it to 'RM', and it could symbolize many things. It could have more spectrums to it.
Quote examples
Owen Hart
Canadian Wrestler
The perks of working in Japan are that you might go for two weeks every three or four months, so you do work an abbreviated schedule. But you really make up for the abbreviated schedule by how hard you have to fight, how much you've got to be in shape.
Quote examples
Kami Garcia
American Writer
I start with a beat sheet, which is more of an abbreviated outline. It hits all the major plot points. From there, I move to note cards. But the most important part of my process is my inspiration board.
Quote examples
Melvyn Bragg
English Journalist
Magna Carta has 63 clauses in abbreviated Latin. Two of them that are still on the statute book, numbers 39 and 40, could be said to have changed the way in which the free world has grown.
Quote examples
Mariella Frostrup
British Journalist
As for tweeting and texting: impassioned discussions, particularly when they're intimate, don't work in abbreviated script messages. No relationship should begin or end in 140 characters.
Quote examples
Satoru Iwata
Japanese Businessman
What I wanted to have happen was that people who didn't know that Game Boy Advance and GBA are the same thing would remember Wii right away because it doesn't need to be abbreviated.
Quote examples
Callan McAuliffe
Australian Actor
The Australian accent is sort of like going down a step in smartness, you could say, because you guys pronounce things as they're spelled. We add and abbreviate stuff.
Quote examples
Edward Tufte
American Educator
What this means is that we shouldn't abbreviate the truth but rather get a new method of presentation.
Quote examples
Saul Williams
American Musician
The music aids the message, it's there to punctuate and abbreviate and shape the silence.
Quote examples
Shigeru Miyamoto
Japanese Designer
Japanese people have a funny habit of abbreviating names.
Quote examples
RM
Korean Musician
Came from a song that I made from, like, 2012 - there was some phrase like 'Rap Monster', and I just, I thought it was so cool. But as I grow up, and as I came to America, I think it felt like too much. So I just abbreviated it to 'RM', and it could symbolize many things. It could have more spectrums to it.
Quote examples
Owen Hart
Canadian Wrestler
The perks of working in Japan are that you might go for two weeks every three or four months, so you do work an abbreviated schedule. But you really make up for the abbreviated schedule by how hard you have to fight, how much you've got to be in shape.
Quote examples
Kami Garcia
American Writer
I start with a beat sheet, which is more of an abbreviated outline. It hits all the major plot points. From there, I move to note cards. But the most important part of my process is my inspiration board.
Quote examples
Melvyn Bragg
English Journalist
Magna Carta has 63 clauses in abbreviated Latin. Two of them that are still on the statute book, numbers 39 and 40, could be said to have changed the way in which the free world has grown.
Quote examples
Mariella Frostrup
British Journalist
As for tweeting and texting: impassioned discussions, particularly when they're intimate, don't work in abbreviated script messages. No relationship should begin or end in 140 characters.
Quote examples
Satoru Iwata
Japanese Businessman
What I wanted to have happen was that people who didn't know that Game Boy Advance and GBA are the same thing would remember Wii right away because it doesn't need to be abbreviated.
Quote examples
Callan McAuliffe
Australian Actor
The Australian accent is sort of like going down a step in smartness, you could say, because you guys pronounce things as they're spelled. We add and abbreviate stuff.
Quote examples
Edward Tufte
American Educator
What this means is that we shouldn't abbreviate the truth but rather get a new method of presentation.
Quote examples
Saul Williams
American Musician
The music aids the message, it's there to punctuate and abbreviate and shape the silence.
Quote examples
Shigeru Miyamoto
Japanese Designer
Japanese people have a funny habit of abbreviating names.
Example 1 of 10
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