transitive. To lengthen the pronunciation of (a word or syllable); to draw out (a sound).

transitive. To make shorter, to diminish the length of, to abridge, curtail. With reference to phonetic quantity.

figurative or in figurative context, with various implications: e.g. to drag forcibly to some course of action; to draw out, lengthen out in time…

with reference to phonetic quantity.

transitive. To shorten the phonetic quantity of (a vowel sound, syllable, etc.). Cf. shorten, v. 1g.