A bridge or a bridge ( two words ) means one ( a ) something built to cross over a river or highway, or something that spans or connects two things ( bridge )--
They are building a bridge over the new highway.
There is a bridge across the river about a mile south of here.
The dentist says he will need a bridge; it will take several visits.
We hope this event will serve as a bridge between our cultures.
Abridge or abridge ( one word, rhymes with a bridge ) means, to shorten or condense by deleting some parts --
The publisher wants to abridge the novel, to under 500 pages.
We would like the author to help us abridge this; it is much too long.
Abridge may also mean, figuratively, to cut short, to make less of --
The new bill is unconstitutional because it would serve to abridge the voting rights of some citizens, based solely on race.
Now that you know that, you can say --
"The speaker has planned a long talk about a bridge and road building plan, but we'd like him to abridge his talk to fit in a ten minute time slot."
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