URL Shortener Definiton

Wikipedia: URL shortening is a technique on the World Wide Web in which a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) may be made substantially shorter in length and still direct to the required page. This is achieved by using an HTTP Redirect on a domain name that is short, which links to the web page that has a long URL.

Wikipedia 2: URL shortening is a technique on the World Wide Web where a provider makes a web page available under a very short URL in addition to the original address.

TechTarget: A URL shortener is a Web site that will create a short Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Web page address from a long one so that the short version, which is easier to remember and enter, can be used instead.

YourDictionary: Converting a long URL name into a short one. Also called "URL redirecting," there are many free URL shortening services on the Web that take a long URL, convert it to a short name and perform the redirection for the user when the short URL is clicked. URL shortening can be used when sending extremely long URLs in e-mail messages or chat rooms, because the URL is often broken up by the time it reaches its destination. The single string of characters is turned into multiple lines and no longer serves as a clickable link.

Although the recipient can patch the URL back together by copying and pasting the lines into the browser's address field, a short URL eliminates the problem in the first place.