[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

abridge \abridge"\, v. t. imp.  p. p. abridged; p. pr. 
   vb. n. abridging. oe. abregen, of. abregier, f.
   abr'eger, fr. l. abbreviare; ad + brevis short. see brief
   and cf. abbreviate.
   1. to make shorter; to shorten in duration; to lessen; to
      diminish; to curtail; as, to abridge labor; to abridge
      power or rights. "the bridegroom . . . abridged his
      visit." --smollett.
      1913 webster

            she retired herself to sebaste, and abridged her
            train from state to necessity.        --fuller.
      1913 webster

   2. to shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining
      the sense; to epitomize; to condense; as, to abridge a
      history or dictionary.
      1913 webster

   3. to deprive; to cut off; -- followed by of, and formerly by
      from; as, to abridge one of his rights.
      1913 webster
see also:
abridged abridging brief abbreviate 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

abridge
     v : reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "the
         manuscript must be shortened" syn: foreshorten, abbreviate,
          shorten, cut, contract, reduce ant: elaborate
see also:
foreshorten abbreviate shorten cut contract reduce 
elaborate 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

107 moby thesaurus words for "abridge":
   abbreviate, abstract, bereave, bleed, blot out, blue-pencil, bob,
   boil down, bowdlerize, brief, cancel, capsule, capsulize, censor,
   clip, compress, condense, contract, crop, cross out, curtail, cut,
   cut back, cut down, cut off, cut off short, cut short, damp,
   dampen, decrease, deduct, deflate, delete, depreciate, depress,
   deprive, deprive of, digest, diminish, disentitle, divest, dock,
   downgrade, drain, ease one of, edit, edit out, elide, epitomize,
   erase, expunge, expurgate, foreshorten, kill, lessen,
   lighten one of, limit, lower, milk, mine, minify, minimize, mow,
   narrow, nip, nutshell, omit, outline, pare, poll, pollard, prune,
   reap, recap, recapitulate, reduce, rescind, restrict, retrench,
   roll back, rub out, scale down, shave, shear, shorten, simplify,
   sketch, sketch out, slash, snub, step down, strike, strike off,
   strike out, stunt, sum up, summarize, synopsize, take away from,
   take from, take in, tap, telescope, trim, truncate, tune down,
   void

[4] : THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993)

abridge, v.t.  to shorten.

        when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for
    people to abridge their king, a decent respect for the opinions of
    mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
    them to the separation.
                                                       oliver cromwell

Abridge >> A Words
Abridge, definition of term: Abridge
abridge_pag1.html