overshorten
English edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) enPR: ō'vər.shôrʹtən, IPA(key): /ˌəʊ.vəˈʃɔː.tən/
- (US) enPR: ō'vər.shôrʹtən, IPA(key): /ˌoʊ.vɚˈʃɔɹ.tən/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
Verb edit
overshorten (third-person singular simple present overshortens, present participle overshortening, simple past and past participle overshortened)
- (transitive) To shorten too much; make excessively or inappropriately short.
- 1936, Harold Vincent Marrot, editor, The Life and Letters of John Galsworthy[1], 2nd revised edition, Heinemann, page 696:
- This plant has only a certain capacity for daylight, and to overshorten the nights would injure it.