curˈtailing, vbl. n.
Also 6–7 curtalling, 7 curtling.
[-ing1.]
The action of the verb curtail; shortening, abridging.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 3 When..with too much curtalling our arguments..wee abbreviate..our Epistles. 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Derrabadura, curtalling, caudæ truncatio. 1610 Markham Masterp. ii. clix. 468 Now for the manner of curtalling of horses, it is in this sort. 1650 Fuller Pisgah iii. i. 315 The curtling of Jerusalem into Solyma. c 1720 W. Gibson Farrier's Guide ii. lviii. (1738) 217. 1737 Swift Letter 23 July, Against the corruption of English..with abominable curtailings and quaint modernisms. 1775 Sheridan Rivals Pref., I profited by his judgment and experience in the curtailing of it. |