Definition

1. Verb:
   • To shorten lines in a drawing or painting to create an illusion of depth or perspective: This is a technique used in visual arts where objects are drawn with shorter lines to make them appear to recede into the distance.
   • To reduce in scope, extent, or length while retaining essential elements: This means to make something shorter or more concise by removing less important parts, often to fit a specific format or requirement.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (Artistic Technique):

  • The artist skillfully foreshortened the arm in the portrait to create a dramatic sense of depth.
  • To draw the figure lying down convincingly, you must learn how to foreshorten the legs.

• Verb (Reduction in Scope):

  • The editor had to foreshorten the lengthy report to meet the magazine's word limit.
  • We need to foreshorten our presentation to fit the ten-minute time slot.

Advanced Usage

• "To be foreshortened": Describes something that has been made to appear shorter or has been abbreviated.
  • In the painting, the road is foreshortened, drawing the viewer's eye toward the horizon.
  • The novel was foreshortened for its serialized publication in the newspaper.

Variants and Related Words

• Foreshortening (n): The technique or result of making something appear shorter or the act of abbreviating.
  • The dramatic foreshortening of the figure makes it seem as if it's leaping out of the canvas.

Synonyms

• Abridge: To shorten a written work by condensing or omitting parts.
• Condense: To make something more concise or dense.
• Shorten: To make or become shorter.
• Truncate: To shorten by cutting off a part.

Antonyms

• Elongate: To make something longer.
• Expand: To increase in scope, size, or extent.
• Lengthen: To make or become longer.

Related Phrases/Idioms

(Note: "Foreshorten" itself is not commonly used in idiomatic expressions. Its usage is primarily technical or descriptive.)

Verb

1. shorten lines in a drawing so as to create an illusion of depth
2. reduce in scope while retaining essential elements
   • The manuscript must be shortened