abridging
v. C1 Advanced US //əˈbɹɪdʒɪŋ// abridg·ing
v. to make something shorter by removing parts of it. You do this to a book or a story so it can be finished in less time.
v. to shorten a text or document by omitting parts of it; to reduce the length of something. Often used in the context of legal or literary works.
The author is abridging the long novel for a younger audience.
The legal team spent weeks abridging the thousands of pages of evidence to focus on the most relevant details.
By abridging the original manuscript, the editor managed to preserve the narrative's core themes while significantly reducing the physical length of the publication.