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Act of cutting short. [Obs.]

To inclose with curtains.

To curtain. [Obs.]

To remove a curtain from; to reveal. Moore.

To make shorter; to shorten in duration; to lessen; to diminish; to curtail; as, to abridge labor; to abridge power or rights. "The bridegroom . . . abridged his visit." Smollett. She retired herself to Sebaste, and abridged her train from state to necessity. Fuller.

hing provided as a substitute; a makeshift. He goes to work devising apologies for window curtains. Dickens.

two flanks, and so constructed that it is able to defend by a flanking fire the adjacent curtain, or wall which extends from one bastion to another. Two adjacent bastions are connected by the curtain, which joins the flank of one with the adjacent flank of the other. The distance between the flanks of a bastion is cal…

Having the tail cut short, or naturally short; curtailed; as, a bobtailed horse or dog; a bobtailed coat.

de of jute or hemp, used for bagging; also, a finer variety of similar material, used for curtains, etc. [Written also burlaps.]

h a play; also, a small shrill instrument for making such a noise. Upon the rising of the curtain. I was very much surprised with the great consort of catcalls which was exhibited. Addison.

Supercilious; haughty; disdainful; curt; brusque.

To curtail; to cut short. All my reports go with the modest truth; No more nor clipped, but so. Shak. In London they clip their words after one manner about the court, another in the city, and a third in the suburbs. Swift.

The act of cutting off, curtailing, or diminishing; the practice of clipping the edges of coins. clipping by Englishmen is robbing the honest man who receives clipped money. Locke.

Suitable for membership in a club; sociable. [Humorous.] G. W. Curtis.

of a slight depression or dropping of the body, with bending of the kness. [Written also curtsy.] The lady drops a courtesy in token of obedience, and the ceremony proceeds as usual. Golgsmith.

l eloquence, that he cuts doun the finest orator." Addison (c) To lessen; to retrench; to curtail; as, to cut down expenses. (d) (Naut.) To raze; as, to cut down a frigate into a sloop. -- To cut the knot or the Gordian knot, to dispose of a difficulty summarily; to solve it by prompt, arbitrary action, rather than by…

A short, heavy, curving sword, used in the navy. See Curtal ax. Cutlass fish, (Zoöl.), a peculiar, long, thin, marine fish (Trichirus lepturus) of the southern United States and West Indies; -- called also saber fish, silver eel, and, improperly, swordfish.

a damp consisting principally of carboniCarbonic acid, under Carbonic. -- Damp sheet, a curtain in a mine gallery to direct air currents and prevent accumulation of gas. -- Fire damp, a damp consisting chiefly of light carbureted hydrogen; -- so called from its tendence to explode when mixed with atmospheric air and…

A four-wheeled carriage, with curtained sides.

A work constructed beyond the main ditch of a fortress, and in front of the curtain between two bastions, intended to defend the curtain; a ravelin. See Ravelin.