1. plural of foreshortening; the technique or effect of depicting an object or figure so that it appears to recede into the distance or to be compressed in depth, especially in drawing or painting.
Usage: art and visual representation; commonly used in discussions of perspective and artistic technique
2. instances or examples of something being made to seem shorter or less significant than it actually is; a reduction or compression in apparent length or importance.
Usage: figurative use; less common than the art sense

Examples

• The artist used bold foreshortenings to create a dramatic sense of depth in the portrait.
• Renaissance painters mastered the technique of foreshortenings to make figures appear three-dimensional.
• The foreshortenings in the ceiling fresco draw the viewer's eye upward.
• His arm extended toward the viewer, rendered with careful foreshortenings to suggest movement.
• The study of foreshortenings is essential for any student of classical drawing.
• Medieval artists struggled with foreshortenings before the rules of perspective were fully understood.