To Curtail

1. (transitive, obsolete) To cut short the tail of an animal

2. (transitive) To shorten or abridge the duration of something; to truncate.

3. (transitive, figuratively) To limit or restrict, keep in check.

(animal's tail): crop, dock

(shorten): abbreviate, shorten; See also Thesaurus:shorten

(limit): behedge, control, limit, restrain; See also Thesaurus:curb