curt-ailing

verb (used with object)

to cut short; cut off a part of; abridge; reduce; diminish.

Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English curtailen to restrict (said of royal succession or inheritance), probably a conflation of Middle French courtau(l)d (see curtal) and Middle English taillen to cut (see taille, tailor)

Related forms

cur·tailed·ly, adverb

cur·tail·er, noun

cur·tail·ment, noun

non·cur·tail·ing, adjective

non·cur·tail·ment, noun

un·cur·tailed, adjective

Synonyms
lessen, dock. See shorten.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source

Link To curt-ailing

00:10

Curt-ailing is always a great word to know.

So is gobo. Does it mean:

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Collins

World English Dictionary

curtail (kɜːˈteɪl)

—vb
	(tr) to cut short; abridge

[C16: changed (through influence of tail¹) from obsolete curtal to dock; see curtal]

cur'tailer

—n

cur'tailment

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

curtail

late 15c., from M.Fr. courtault "made short," from court "short," from L. curtus (see curt) + -ault pejorative suffix of Gmc. origin. Originally curtal; used of horses with docked tails, which probably influenced the spelling.

Matching Quote

"Freud was once asked what he thought a normal person should be able to do well. The questioner probably expected a complicated answers. But Freud, in the curt way of his old days, is reported to have said: "Lieben und arbeiten" (to love and to work). It pays to ponder on this simple formula; it gets deeper as you think about it."

-Erik H. Erikson

Want curt-ailing ad-free? Click here!