/ kɜːˈteɪl; NAmE kɜːrˈt-/ verb
[ vn ] ( formal ) to limit sth or make it last for a shorter time :
Spending on books has been severely curtailed.
The lecture was curtailed by the fire alarm going off.
► cur·tail·ment noun [ U ]:
the curtailment of civil liberties
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WORD ORIGIN
late 15th cent.: from obsolete curtal horse with a docked tail , from French courtault , from court short, from Latin curtus . The change in the ending was due to association with tail and perhaps also with French tailler to cut.