Curtail

Quick meaning: Curtail is a verb meaning (transitive, obsolete) To cut short the tail of (an animal).

Meaning

(transitive, obsolete) To cut short the tail of (an animal).

More Meanings

1. (transitive) To shorten or abridge the duration of; to bring an end to; to truncate.
2. (transitive, figuratively) To limit or restrict; to keep in check.
3. (architecture) A scroll termination, as of a step, etc.

Example Sentences

Curtailing horses procured long horse-hair.

When the audience grew restless, the speaker curtailed her speech.

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.

The current Israeli government has been working to curtail and eliminate critical voices within Israeli society in recent years, particularly those fighting to end the occupation and expose human rights violations against Palestinians and marginalized communities.

Word Forms

• curtails
• curtailing
• curtailed

Synonyms for curtail

Depending on context, synonyms include crop, dock, abbreviate, shorten, behedge, control.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include restrict, cut back, clip, curb, abridge, shorten.

Related Dictionary Tools