bridge vs shorten

bridge

verb
  • To employ the bridge tactic. (See Noun section.) 

  • To be or make a bridge over something. 

  • To span as if with a bridge. 

  • To transition from one piece or section of music to another without stopping. 

  • To go to the bridge position. 

  • To connect two or more computer buses, networks etc. with a bridge. 

noun
  • An edge which, if removed, changes a connected graph to one that is not connected. 

  • A software component connecting two or more separate systems. 

  • A prosthesis replacing one or several adjacent teeth. 

  • A construction spanning a waterway, ravine, or valley from an elevated height, allowing for the passage of vehicles, pedestrians, trains, etc. 

  • A similar position in gymnastics. 

  • A card game played with four players playing as two teams of two players each. 

  • A particular form of one hand placed on the table to support the cue when making a shot in cue sports. 

  • A solid crust of undissolved salt in a water softener. 

  • A cue modified with a convex arch-shaped notched head attached to the narrow end, used to support a player's (shooter's) cue for extended or tedious shots. Also called a spider. 

  • The situation where a lone rider or small group of riders closes the space between them and the rider or group in front. 

  • An elongated chain of teammates, connected to the pack, for improved blocking potential. 

  • The upper bony ridge of the human nose. 

  • An elevated platform above the upper deck of a mechanically propelled ship from which it is navigated and from which all activities on deck can be seen and controlled by the captain, etc; smaller ships have a wheelhouse, and sailing ships were controlled from a quarterdeck. 

  • A defensive position in which the wrestler is supported by his feet and head, belly-up, in order to prevent touch-down of the shoulders and eventually to dislodge an opponent who has established a position on top. 

  • A contrasting section within a song that prepares for the return of the original material section. 

  • The gap between the holes on a bowling ball 

  • A point in a line where a break in a word unit cannot occur. 

  • Anything supported at the ends and serving to keep some other thing from resting upon the object spanned, as in engraving, watchmaking, etc., or which forms a platform or staging over which something passes or is conveyed. 

  • Any of several electrical devices that measure characteristics such as impedance and inductance by balancing different parts of a circuit 

  • A connection, real or abstract. 

  • An unintended solder connection between two or more components or pins. 

  • A device which connects two or more computer buses, typically in a transparent manner. 

  • A statement, such as an offer, that signals a possibility of accord. 

  • The piece, on string instruments, that supports the strings from the sounding board. 

  • A rudimentary procedure before definite solution 

  • A low wall or vertical partition in the fire chamber of a furnace, for deflecting flame, etc.; a bridge wall. 

  • An intramolecular valence bond, atom or chain of atoms that connects two different parts of a molecule; the atoms so connected being bridgeheads. 

  • A system which connects two or more local area networks at layer 2 of OSI model. 

  • A day falling between two public holidays and consequently designated as an additional holiday. 

shorten

verb
  • To take in the slack of (a rope). 

  • To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen. 

  • To reduce (sail) by taking it in. 

  • To become shorter. 

  • To make shorter; to abbreviate. 

  • To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, etc. 

  • To make deficient (as to); to deprive (of). 

How often have the words bridge and shorten occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )