Real Dictionary

foreshorten
verb: To foreshorten someone or something means to draw them, photograph them, or see them from an unusual angle so that the parts of them that are furthest away seem smaller than they really are.

foreshorten in American English
to represent some lines of (an object) as shorter than they actually are in order to give the illusion of proper relative size, in accordance with the principles of perspective
transitive verb: to reduce or distort (parts of a represented object that are not parallel to the picture plane) in order to convey the illusion of three-dimensional space as perceived by the human eye: often done according to the rules of perspective

foreshorten in British English
to represent (a line, form, object, etc) as shorter than actual length in order to give an illusion of recession or projection, in accordance with the laws of linear perspective