Burton's Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006
curtail — cur‧tail [kɜːˈteɪl ǁ kɜːr ] verb [transitive] to reduce or limit something: • The Federal Bank s critics in Congress are eager to curtail its power. • Investment plans may be curtailed by high interest rates. * * * curtail UK US /kɜːˈteɪl/ verb… … Financial and business terms
Curtail — Cur tail (k?r t?l), n. The scroll termination of any architectural member, as of a step, etc. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Curtail — Cur*tail (k[u^]r*t[=a]l ), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Curtailed} ( t[=a]ld ); p. pr. & vb. n. {Curtailing}.] [See {Curtal}.] To cut off the end or tail, or any part, of; to shorten; to abridge; to diminish; to reduce. [1913 Webster] I, that am… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
curtail — late 15c., from M.Fr. courtault made short, from court short (O.Fr. cort, from L. curtus; see CURT (Cf. curt)) + ault pejorative suffix of Germanic origin. Originally curtal; used of horses with docked tails, which probably influenced the… … Etymology dictionary
curtail — *shorten, abbreviate, abridge, retrench Analogous words: reduce, *decrease, lessen: *cut, slash Antonyms: protract, prolong Contrasted words: *extend, lengthen, elongate … New Dictionary of Synonyms
curtail — [v] cut short; abridge abbreviate, boil down, chop, clip, contract, cramp, cut, cut back, decrease, diminish, dock, downsize, get to meat*, halt, lessen, lop, minify, pare down, put in nutshell*, reduce, retrench, roll back, shorten, slash, trim … New thesaurus
curtail — ► VERB ▪ reduce in extent or quantity. DERIVATIVES curtailment noun. ORIGIN from obsolete curtal «horse with a docked tail», from Latin curtus, influenced by TAIL(Cf. ↑tailless) … English terms dictionary
curtail — [kər tāl′] vt. [ME curtailen, altered (by assoc. with taillen < OFr taillier: see TAILOR) < OFr curtald, CURTAL] to cut short; reduce; abridge SYN. SHORTEN curtailment n … English World dictionary
curtail — [[t]kɜː(r)te͟ɪl[/t]] curtails, curtailing, curtailed VERB If you curtail something, you reduce or limit it. [FORMAL] [V n] NATO plans to curtail the number of troops being sent to the region... [V n] I told Louie that old age would curtail her… … English dictionary
curtail — UK [kɜː(r)ˈteɪl] / US [kɜrˈteɪl] verb [transitive] Word forms curtail : present tense I/you/we/they curtail he/she/it curtails present participle curtailing past tense curtailed past participle curtailed formal to reduce or limit something,… … English dictionary
