Slim down means to lose weight, and in a wider sense to cut something down and make it smaller. Slim down a report means remove the extra parts; slim down the menu means offer fewer dishes. When a company slims down its workforce, that's a polite way of saying people are losing their jobs.
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slim down; slim down a document / organisation; slim it down
- We slimmed down the report by removing repeated sections.
- The company plans to slim down its range of products.
- The final version is shorter because the editor slimmed it down.
What changed
First versionThe report is too long; we should slim down it.
RevisionThe report is too long; we should slim it down.
We say shorten it or cut it, with the pronoun at the end, so slim down it seems natural. But with a phrasal verb a short pronoun goes inside: slim it down. A noun can go either way: slim down the report, slim the report down.
Cut down on means use less of something: cut down on sugar. Slim down means make the thing itself smaller: slim down the guide. Narrow down means reduce your choices: narrow down the options to two.
Your turn
Choose the correct pronoun position: This guide needs fewer sections; let's ___.
Show the answer
slim it down — In slim down, the pronoun it goes between slim and down: slim it down.
Describe a document, menu or plan that was made shorter and what was removed from it.
We slimmed down the handbook by moving the long equipment list to a separate page.
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