Curtail

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /kɜːˈteɪl/
• US IPA: /kɚˈteɪl/
• Rhymes: -eɪl

Origin

Alteration of curtal, from Old French courtault ("which has been shortened"), itself from court ("short") (from Latin curtus) + -ault

Full definition of curtail

Verb

1. (transitive, obsolete) To cut short the tail of an animal''Curtailing horses procured long horse-hair.
2. (transitive) To shorten or abridge the duration of something; to truncate.When the audience grew restless, the speaker curtailed her speech.
3. (transitive, figuratively) To limit or restrict, keep in check.Their efforts to curtail spending didn't quite succeed.
• MacaulayOur incomes have been curtailed; his salary has been doubled.

Synonyms

• (animal's tail) crop, dock
• shorten
• behedge, control, limit, restrain

Derived terms

• curtailer
• curtailment

Related terms

• curt
• curtal

Noun

1. (architecture) A scroll termination, as of a step, etc.

Anagrams

• trucial