To edit down is to shorten a piece by cutting the weaker parts. Edit down to a thousand words, edit down the interview, ask them to edit down.
It is not the same as cutting at random, since editing down should leave the argument standing. Most writing improves when edited down, which is the oldest advice in the trade.
1phraseedit downTo shorten a piece by cutting the weaker parts.
“They asked me to edit down the piece by a third.”
edit down is a phrase.
Practised in News & Communication