I decided to abridge the chapter from the book ...

[dedicatedenglish]

I know "abridge" means "shorten" but can it also mean "remove" in this context: I decided to abridge the chapter from the book before it went to print?

 

[5jj]

No.

 

[Tarheel]

The word "delete" is the one you want.

 

[jutfrank]

I don't think 'delete' is right as it has the sense of being permanent. In the editing world I think they'd say 'cut'.

 

[PeterCW]

I don't think 'delete' is right as it has the sense of being permanent. In the editing world I think they'd say 'cut'.

In the context of the question I would definitely say "cut".

 

[Tarheel]

Well, it's amazing to see people pickier than I am. However, since you brought it up, I would probably say I want to remove it or take it out. (Not "abridge".)

 

[Tarheel]

Cut it.
Take it out.
Remove it.

If you are going to take something out you certainly don't have plans to put it back in.

I suppose "delete" is normally used for something shorter than a chapter.

 

[Tarheel]

The more I think about it the less I see wrong with "delete". You can delete a sentence. You can delete a paragraph. You can delete an entire chapter.

 

[jutfrank]

The more I think about it the less I see wrong with "delete". You can delete a sentence. You can delete a paragraph. You can delete an entire chapter.

Well, you can but people generally wouldn't do that. If you delete something, it's basically gone forever. With a sentence, fair enough, but it'd be foolish to delete a whole chapter.

 

[Tarheel]

It you take something out, it's not with the intention of putting it back in. However, there's nothing to stop you from doing that. It doesn't matter what word you use. You can still put it back in if you want to. You can always change your mind. It doesn't matter what word you use. If you change your mind you can put it back in. There is nothing permanent about deletion in the sense that you can't change your mind and put it back.