W: (v) expand [Opposed to: contract] (add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing) "She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation"
S: (v) shorten (make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration) "He shortened his trip due to illness"
S: (v) foreshorten (shorten lines in a drawing so as to create an illusion of depth)
S: (v) clip, curtail, cut short (terminate or abbreviate before its intended or proper end or its full extent) "My speech was cut short"; "Personal freedom is curtailed in many countries"
S: (v) syncopate (omit a sound or letter in a word) "syncopate a word"
S: (v) truncate, cut short (make shorter as if by cutting off) "truncate a word"; "Erosion has truncated the ridges of the mountains"