Meaning & use

curtail

verb·Academic

To reduce or restrict something, especially a right, activity, or expense, before it is complete.

See it in a sentence

The new policy curtailed employees' access to personal email during work hours.

Budget cuts curtailed the theater's ambitious touring schedule for the season.

A note on using this word

Curtail suggests an imposed, often abrupt cutback, not a gradual natural decrease.

Words with a similar meaning

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Words with an opposite meaning

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