short definition | Dictionary.com

short

[shawrt]

adjective, -er, -est, adverb, noun, verb

–adjective

1.	having little length; not long.

2.	having little height; not tall: a short man.

3.	extending or reaching only a little way: a short path.

4.	brief in duration; not extensive in time: a short wait.

5.	brief or concise, as writing.

6.	rudely brief; abrupt; hurting: short behavior.

7.	low in amount; scanty: short rations.

8.	not reaching a point, mark, target, or the like; not long enough or far enough.

9.	below the standard in extent, quantity, duration, etc.: short measure.

10.	having a scanty or insufficient amount of (often fol. by in or on): He was short in experience.

11.	being below a necessary or desired level; lacking: The office is short due to winter colds and flu.

12.

Cookery.

a.	(of pastry and the like) crisp and flaky; breaking or crumbling readily from being made with a large proportion of butter or other shortening.

b.	(of dough) containing a relatively large amount of shortening.

13.	(of metals) deficient in tenacity; friable; brittle.

14.	(of the head or skull) of less than ordinary length from front to back.

15.

Stock Exchange.

a.	not possessing at the time of sale commodities or stocks that one sells.

b.	noting or pertaining to a sale of commodities or stocks that the seller does not possess, depending for profit on a decline in prices.

16.

Phonetics.

a.	lasting a relatively short time: “Bit” has a shorter vowel-sound than “bid” or “bead.”

belonging to a class of sounds considered as usually shorter in duration than another class, as the vowel of but as compared to that of bought, and in many languages serving as a distinctive feature of phonemes, as the a in German Bann in contrast with the ah in Bahn, or the t in Italian fato in contrast with the tt in fatto (opposed to long ).

c.	having the sound of the English vowels in bat, bet, bit, hot, but, and put, historically descended from vowels that were short in duration.

17.

Prosody.

a.	(of a syllable in quantitative verse) lasting a relatively shorter time than a long syllable.

b.	unstressed.

18.	(of an alcoholic drink) small: a short drink.

19.	Chiefly British. (of whiskey) undiluted; straight.

20.	Ceramics. (of clay) not plastic enough to be modeled.

21.	Ropemaking. hard (def. 39).

–adverb

22.	abruptly or suddenly: to stop short.

23.	briefly; curtly.

24.	on the near side of an intended or particular point: The arrow landed short.

25.

Baseball.

a.	with the hands higher on the handle of the bat than usual: He held the bat short and flied out.

b.	in a fielding position closer to home plate than usual.

–noun

26.	something that is short.

27.	that which is deficient or lacking.

28.	the sum and substance of a matter; gist (usually prec. by the).

29.

shorts,

a.	trousers, knee-length or shorter.

b.	short pants worn by men as an undergarment.

c.	knee breeches, formerly worn by men.

d.	Finance. short-term bonds.

e.	Mining. crushed ore failing to pass through a given screen, thus being of a larger given size than a specific grade. Compare fine (def. 29a).

f.	remnants, discards, or refuse of various cutting and manufacturing processes.

30.	a size of garment for men who are shorter than average: He wears a 42 short.

31.	a garment, as a suit or overcoat, in such a size.

32.	Military. a shot that strikes or bursts short of the target.

33.	Electricity. short circuit.

34.	Prosody. a short sound or syllable.

35.	Baseball. shortstop (def. 1).

36.	Movies. short subject.

37.	Finance. short seller.

38.	a deficiency or the amount of a deficiency.

39.	Chiefly British. a small drink of straight whiskey; shot.

–verb (used with object)

40.	to cause a short circuit in.

41.	to cheat by giving less than is expected or deserved; shortchange.

–verb (used without object)

42.	to short-circuit.

—Idioms

43.

come or fall short,

a.	to fail to reach a particular standard.

b.	to prove insufficient; be lacking: Her funds fell short, and she had to wire home for help.

44.	cut short, to end abruptly; terminate: Her nap was cut short by a loud noise from outside.

45.	for short, by way of abbreviation: Her name is Patricia, and she's called Pat for short.

46.

in short,

a.	in summary.

b.	in few words; in brief: In short, this has been rather a disappointing day.

47.	make short work of. work (def. 52).

48.	run short, to be in insufficient supply: My patience is running short.

49.

sell short,

a.	Stock Exchange. to sell stocks or the like without having them in one's actual possession at the time of the sale.

b.	to disparage or underestimate: Don't sell Tom short; he's really an excellent engineer.

50.

short and sweet,

a.	pleasantly brief.

b.	pertinent: We're in a hurry, so make it short and sweet.

51.	short for, being a shorter form of; abbreviated to: “Phone” is short for “telephone.”

52.

short of,

a.	less than; inferior to.

b.	inadequately supplied with (money, food, etc.).

c.	without going to the length of; failing of; excluding: Short of murder, there is nothing he wouldn't have tried to get what he wanted.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME schort (adj.), OE sceort; c. OHG scurz short, ON skortr shortness, scarcity

Related forms:

shortness, noun

Synonyms:
4. Short, brief are opposed to long, and indicate slight extent or duration. Short may imply duration but is also applied to physical distance and certain purely spatial relations: a short journey. Brief refers esp. to duration of time: brief intervals. 5. terse, succinct, laconic, condensed. 6. curt, sharp, testy. 7. poor, deficient, inadequate, wanting, lacking. 12. crumbly. 14. brachycephalic.

Antonyms:
3, 4. long.

short subject

–noun Movies.

a short film, as a documentary or travelogue, shown as part of a program with a feature-length film.

Also called short.

Origin:
1940–45

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To short

short (shôrt)

adj. short·er, short·est

Having little length; not long.
Having little height; not tall.
Extending or traveling not far or not far enough: a short toss.
1. Lasting a brief time: a short holiday.
2. Appearing to pass quickly: finished the job in a few short months.
3. Rudely brief; abrupt.
4. Easily provoked; irascible.
5. Not owning the stocks or commodities one is selling in anticipation of a fall in prices.
6. Of or relating to a short sale.
7. Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky: a short pie crust.
8. Not ductile; brittle: short iron.
9. Linguistics Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."
10. Grammar Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ā) in pat or (ŏŏ) in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.
11. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody.
12. Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.
Not lengthy; succinct: short and to the point.
1. Rudely brief; abrupt.
2. Easily provoked; irascible.
3. Not owning the stocks or commodities one is selling in anticipation of a fall in prices.
4. Of or relating to a short sale.
5. Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky: a short pie crust.
6. Not ductile; brittle: short iron.
7. Linguistics Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."
8. Grammar Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ā) in pat or (ŏŏ) in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.
9. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody.
10. Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.
Inadequate; insufficient: oil in short supply; were short on experience.
Lacking in length or amount: a board that is short two inches.
Lacking in breadth or scope: a short view of the problem.
Deficient in retentiveness: a short memory.
1. Not owning the stocks or commodities one is selling in anticipation of a fall in prices.
2. Of or relating to a short sale.
3. Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky: a short pie crust.
4. Not ductile; brittle: short iron.
5. Linguistics Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."
6. Grammar Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ā) in pat or (ŏŏ) in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.
7. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody.
8. Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.
1. Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky: a short pie crust.
2. Not ductile; brittle: short iron.
3. Linguistics Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."
4. Grammar Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ā) in pat or (ŏŏ) in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.
5. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody.
6. Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.
1. Linguistics Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."
2. Grammar Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ā) in pat or (ŏŏ) in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.
3. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody.
4. Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.
1. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody.
2. Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.
Slang Close to the end of a tour of military duty.

adv. shorter, shortest

Abruptly; quickly: stop short.
In a rude or curt manner.
At a point before a given boundary, limit, or goal: a missile that landed short of the target.
At a disadvantage: We were caught short by the sudden storm.
Without owning what one is selling: selling a commodity short.

Something short, as:
1. Linguistics A short syllable, vowel, or consonant.
2. A brief film; a short subject.
3. A size of clothing less long than the average for that size.
4. shorts Short trousers extending to the knee or above.
5. shorts Men's undershorts.
6. A short sale.
7. One that sells short.
8. A short circuit.
9. A malfunction caused by a short circuit.
1. A short sale.
2. One that sells short.
3. A short circuit.
4. A malfunction caused by a short circuit.
shorts A byproduct of wheat processing that consists of germ, bran, and coarse meal or flour.
shorts Clippings or trimmings that remain as byproducts in various manufacturing processes, often used to make an inferior variety of the product.
1. A short circuit.
2. A malfunction caused by a short circuit.
Baseball A shortstop.

v. short·ed, short·ing, shorts

v. tr.

To cause a short circuit in.
Informal To give (one) less than one is entitled to; shortchange.
1. To sell (a stock that one does not own) in anticipation of making a profit when its price falls; make a short sale.
2. To sell unowned stock in (the stock market) in anticipation of making a profit when prices fall.

v. intr.
To short-circuit.

[Middle English, from Old English sceort, scort; see sker-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
short'ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Short

Short\, a. [Compar. Shorter; superl. Shortest.] [OE. short, schort, AS. scort, sceort; akin to OHG. scurz, Icel. skorta to be short of, to lack, and perhaps to E. shear, v. t. Cf. Shirt.]

1. Not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight.

The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it. --Isa. xxviii. 20.

2. Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as, short breath.

The life so short, the craft so long to learn. --Chaucer.

To short absense I could yield. --Milton.

3. Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water.

4. Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking; not coming up to a resonable, or the ordinary, standard; -- usually with of; as, to be short of money.

We shall be short in our provision. --Shak.

5. Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith.

6. Not distant in time; near at hand.

Marinell was sore offended That his departure thence should be so short. --Spenser.

He commanded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready by a short day. --Clarendon.

7. Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory.

Their own short understandings reach No farther than the present. --Rowe.

8. Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); -- with of.

Hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse them again to war. --Landor.

9. Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question.

10. (Cookery) Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as, short pastry.

11. (Metal) Brittle.

Note: Metals that are brittle when hot are called ?ot-short; as, cast iron may be hot-short, owing to the presence of sulphur. Those that are brittle when cold are called cold-short; as, cast iron may be cold-short, on account of the presence of phosphorus.

12. (Stock Exchange) Engaging or engaged to deliver what is not possessed; as, short contracts; to be short of stock. See The shorts, under Short, n., and To sell short, under Short, adv.

Note: In mercantile transactions, a note or bill is sometimes made payable at short sight, that is, in a little time after being presented to the payer.

13. (Phon.) Not prolonged, or relatively less prolonged, in utterance; -- opposed to long, and applied to vowels or to syllables. In English, the long and short of the same letter are not, in most cases, the long and short of the same sound; thus, the i in ill is the short sound, not of i in isle, but of ee in eel, and the e in pet is the short sound of a in pate, etc. See Quantity, and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect]22, 30.

Note: Short is much used with participles to form numerous self-explaining compounds; as, short-armed, short-billed, short-fingered, short-haired, short-necked, short-sleeved, short-tailed, short-winged, short-wooled, etc.

At short notice, in a brief time; promptly.

Short rib (Anat.), one of the false ribs.

Short suit (Whist), any suit having only three cards, or less than three. --R. A. Proctor.

To come short, To cut short, To fall short, etc. See under Come, Cut, etc.

Short

Short\, n. 1. A summary account.

The short and the long is, our play is preferred. --Shak.

2. pl. The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran.

The first remove above bran is shorts. --Halliwell.

3. pl. Short, inferior hemp.

4. pl. Breeches; shortclothes. [Slang] --Dickens.

5. (Phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

If we compare the nearest conventional shorts and longs in English, as in "bit" and "beat," "not" and "naught," we find that the short vowels are generally wide, the long narrow, besides being generally diphthongic as well. Hence, originally short vowels can be lengthened and yet kept quite distinct from the original longs. --H. Sweet.

In short, in few words; in brief; briefly.

The long and the short, the whole; a brief summing up.

The shorts (Stock Exchange), those who are unsupplied with stocks which they contracted to deliver.

Short

Short\, adv. In a short manner; briefly; limitedly; abruptly; quickly; as, to stop short in one's course; to turn short.

He was taken up very short, and adjudged corrigible for such presumptuous language. --Howell.

To sell short (Stock Exchange), to sell, for future delivery, what the party selling does not own, but hopes to buy at a lower rate.

Short

Short\, v. t. [AS. sceortian.] To shorten. [Obs.]

Short

Short\, v. i. To fail; to decrease. [Obs.]

Language Translation for : short

Spanish: corto,

German: kurz,

Japanese: 短い

More Translations »

short (adj.)

O.E. sceort, scort, probably from P.Gmc. *skurta- (cf. O.N. skorta "to be short of," skort "shortness;" O.H.G. scurz "short"), from PIE base *sker- "to cut," with notion of "something cut off" (cf. Skt. krdhuh "shortened, maimed, small;" L. curtus "short," cordus "late-born," originally "stunted in growth;" O.C.S. kratuku, Rus. korotkij "short;" Lith. skurstu "to be stunted," skardus "steep;" O.Ir. cert "small," M.Ir. corr "stunted, dwarfish"). Meaning "rude" is attested from 1390. Shorty "short person" is recorded from 1888. To fall short is from archery. Shortage is attested from 1868. Short cut is from 1568. Short fuse in fig. sense of "quick temper" first attested 1968. Short story first recorded 1877. Short list dates from 1927. To make short work of is first attested 1577. Phrase short and sweet is from 1539.

short (n.)

Meaning "electrical short circuit" first recorded 1854 (the verbal phrase short circuit is recorded from 1867). Slang meaning "car" is attested from 1897; originally "street car," so called based on street cars (or the rides taken in them) being "shorter" than railroad cars.

short

See short position 1, 2 short sale.

Main Entry: short
Function: adjective
1 : treated or disposed of quickly in court short causes>
2 a : not having goods or property that one has sold in anticipation of a fall in prices short at the time of the sale> b : consisting of or relating to a sale of securities or commodities that the seller does not possess or has not contracted for at the time of the sale short sale> short position>
NOTE: The purpose of a short sale is to profit from an anticipated drop in the price of a security or commodity. Typically, an investor directs a broker to borrow a quantity of stocks and to sell them at the current price. If the price drops, the investor then repurchases an equal quantity at the lower price, returns the borrowed stocks, and retains the difference in price as profit. If the price rises instead of falling, the investor may choose or be compelled to repurchase the stocks at a higher price and to accept a loss.

Main Entry: short
Function: adverb
: by or as if by a short sale short>

short

In addition to the idioms beginning with short, also see by the short hairs; caught short; cut short; fall short; for short; in brief (short); in short order; in short supply; in the long (short) run; life is too short; long and short of it; long (short) haul; make a long story short; make short work of; nothing short of; run short; sell short; stop short.

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