as in shortening
to make less in extent or duration
curtailed the school day because of the stormy weather
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Recent Examples of curtailing
Britain’s universities are firing staff, cutting courses, and curtailing research over an intensifying financial shortfall.
—
Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 29 May 2026
On Tuesday, amid conversations on expanding the College Football Playoff and curtailing rules in regard to governing athletics, Lane Kiffin became the center of attention once again.
—Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
In an interview about his 2022 book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, Bill Gates said that curtailing consumption to eliminate carbon emissions is of limited value.
—John Reid, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
In a country that bills itself as a beacon of free speech, educational institutions especially should not be curtailing it.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 8 May 2026
The stock hit a new high before curtailing some of its gains.
—Jason Gewirtz, CNBC, 6 May 2026
The high court declared last week that Louisiana’s addition of a second majority-Black congressional district is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in a 6-3 decision, curtailing Section 2 of the voting law that has long enabled advocacy groups to force new majority-minority districts.
—Mike Lillis, The Hill, 4 May 2026
Pakistan and Bangladesh have closed schools, and, across Southeast Asia, officials are working from home and curtailing travel.
—Wendy Cutler, Fortune, 2 May 2026
But Emirati officials had threatened for years to leave, blaming Opec’s production quotas for unfairly curtailing its oil exports.
—Harriet Marsden, TheWeek, 30 Apr. 2026
Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 29 May 2026
On Tuesday, amid conversations on expanding the College Football Playoff and curtailing rules in regard to governing athletics, Lane Kiffin became the center of attention once again.
—Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
In an interview about his 2022 book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, Bill Gates said that curtailing consumption to eliminate carbon emissions is of limited value.
—John Reid, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
In a country that bills itself as a beacon of free speech, educational institutions especially should not be curtailing it.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 8 May 2026
The stock hit a new high before curtailing some of its gains.
—Jason Gewirtz, CNBC, 6 May 2026
The high court declared last week that Louisiana’s addition of a second majority-Black congressional district is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in a 6-3 decision, curtailing Section 2 of the voting law that has long enabled advocacy groups to force new majority-minority districts.
—Mike Lillis, The Hill, 4 May 2026
Pakistan and Bangladesh have closed schools, and, across Southeast Asia, officials are working from home and curtailing travel.
—Wendy Cutler, Fortune, 2 May 2026
But Emirati officials had threatened for years to leave, blaming Opec’s production quotas for unfairly curtailing its oil exports.
—Harriet Marsden, TheWeek, 30 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for curtailing
Verb
-
Simison emphasized robust public-safety services, including shortening fire department response times, incorporating new technologies into policing and the advent of several large developments and transportation projects.—
Rose Evans,
Idaho Statesman,
4 June 2026
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Many researchers have theorized that melting Ice Age glaciers likely helped passively shift the Altar Stone closer to southern England’s Salisbury Plain around 2500 BCE, shortening the transport distance for Stonehenge’s creators.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
4 June 2026
Verb
-
The price tag comes from the California State Auditor’s report that was issued last fall, which found that maintaining similar telework policies could potentially save $225 million annually by reducing the government’s office space footprint.—
William Melhado,
Sacbee.com,
6 June 2026
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An April 2026 analysis identified 446 hospitals across 44 states at high risk of closing or reducing services because of Medicaid funding cuts.—
Jesse Pines,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Curtailing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/curtailing. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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