" "The wounded bear hugged the hunter
ferociously."
. The two terms overlap; but there is a fairly
strong tendency to use _shorten_ for reduction in length, and
_abridge_ for reduction in quantity or mass. Both words are used
figuratively as well as literally. "The tyrant shortened the privileges of
his subjects." "We shortened the rope." "The teacher abridged the
recitation." "The report of the committee appears in abridged form in
Volume 2 of our records."
With the help of the dictionary discriminate between the members of the
following pairs. Determine whether the words are correctly used in the
illustrative sentences. (Some are; some are not.)
. "He delivered a fiery address." "The
underbrush was dry and fiery." "Your disposition is too inflammable."
. "The fat man had grown attenuated."
"Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look." "The hot metal was then drawn
into an attenuated wire." "Only a lean line of our soldiers faced the
dense masses of the enemy."
. "The scene was quiet and domestic." "It is
home-like, inexpressibly dear." "To Waltham, heartsick from his
wanderings, the room in all its arrangements was thoroughly domestic.
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