curtail

verb
🔊/kɜːˈteɪl/
🔊/kɜːrˈteɪl/
(formal)
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they curtail
🔊/kɜːˈteɪl/
🔊/kɜːrˈteɪl/
he / she / it curtails
🔊/kɜːˈteɪlz/
🔊/kɜːrˈteɪlz/
past simple curtailed
🔊/kɜːˈteɪld/
🔊/kɜːrˈteɪld/
past participle curtailed
🔊/kɜːˈteɪld/
🔊/kɜːrˈteɪld/
-ing form curtailing
🔊/kɜːˈteɪlɪŋ/
🔊/kɜːrˈteɪlɪŋ/
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  1. curtail something to limit something or make it last for a shorter time限制;缩短;减缩
    • Spending on books has been severely curtailed.购书开支已被大大削减。🔊🔊
    • The lecture was curtailed by the fire alarm going off.那次讲座被突然鸣响的火警中断了。🔊🔊
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • drastically
    • seriously
    • severely
    See full entry
    Word Originlate 15th cent.: from obsolete curtal ‘horse with a docked tail’, from French courtault, from court ‘short’, from Latin curtus. The change in the ending was due to association with tail and perhaps also with French tailler ‘to cut’.