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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

short       (shôrt)  Pronunciation Key  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. Lasting a brief time: a short holiday. Appearing to pass quickly: finished the job in a few short months. Rudely brief; abrupt. Easily provoked; irascible. Not owning the stocks or commodities one is selling in anticipation of a fall in prices. Of or relating to a short sale. Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky: a short pie crust. Not ductile; brittle: short iron. 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." 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. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody. Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody. Not lengthy; succinct: short and to the point. Rudely brief; abrupt. Easily provoked; irascible. Not owning the stocks or commodities one is selling in anticipation of a fall in prices. Of or relating to a short sale. Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky: a short pie crust. Not ductile; brittle: short iron. 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." 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. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody. 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. Not owning the stocks or commodities one is selling in anticipation of a fall in prices. Of or relating to a short sale. Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky: a short pie crust. Not ductile; brittle: short iron. 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." 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. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody. Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody. Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky: a short pie crust. Not ductile; brittle: short iron. 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." 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. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody. Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody. 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." 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. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody. Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody. 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. n.   Something short, as: Linguistics A short syllable, vowel, or consonant. A brief film; a short subject. A size of clothing less long than the average for that size. shorts Short trousers extending to the knee or above. shorts Men's undershorts. A short sale. One that sells short. A short circuit. A malfunction caused by a short circuit. A short sale. One that sells short. A short circuit. 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. A short circuit. 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. To sell (a stock that one does not own) in anticipation of making a profit when its price falls; make a short sale. 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.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
short  (adj.)

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
short  (n.)

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

short
adjective
1.	primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration; "a short life"; "a short flight"; "a short holiday"; "a short story"; "only a few short months" [ant: long]
2.	(primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in length; "short skirts"; "short hair"; "the board was a foot short"; "a short toss" [ant: long]
3.	low in stature; not tall; "he was short and stocky"; "short in stature"; "a short smokestack"; "a little man" [ant: tall]
4.	not sufficient to meet a need; "an inadequate income"; "a poor salary"; "money is short"; "on short rations"; "food is in short supply"; "short on experience" [syn: inadequate]
5.	(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range; "a short memory" [syn: unretentive] [ant: long]
6.	not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices; "a short sale"; "short in cotton" [ant: long]
7.	of speech sounds or syllables of relatively short duration; "the English vowel sounds in 'pat', 'pet', 'pit', 'pot', putt' are short" [ant: long]
8.	less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so; "a light pound"; "a scant cup of sugar"; "regularly gives short weight" [syn: light]
9.	lacking foresight or scope; "a short view of the problem"; "shortsighted policies"; "shortsighted critics derided the plan"; "myopic thinking"
10.	tending to crumble or break into flakes due to a large amount of shortening; "shortbread is a short crumbly cookie"; "a short flaky pie crust"
11.	marked by rude or peremptory shortness; "try to cultivate a less brusque manner"; "a curt reply"; "the salesgirl was very short with him" [syn: brusque]
adverb
1.	quickly and without warning; "he stopped suddenly" [syn: abruptly]
2.	without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold; "he made his fortune by selling short just before the crash"
3.	clean across; "the car's axle snapped short"
4.	at some point or distance before a goal is reached; "he fell short of our expectations"
5.	so as to interrupt; "She took him up short before he could continue"
6.	at a disadvantage; "I was caught short"
7.	in a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner; "he told me curtly to get on with it"; "he talked short with everyone"; "he said shortly that he didn't like it" [syn: curtly]
noun
1.	the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed
2.	accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference [syn: short circuit]
3.	the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between second and third base [syn: shortstop]
verb
1.	cheat someone by not returning him enough money [syn: short-change]
2.	create a short circuit in [syn: short-circuit]

American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

Wallstreet Words - Cite This Source - Share This

short

See short position 1, 2short sale.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
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.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: short
Function: adverb
: by or as if by a short sale short>

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Short Hills, NJ Zip code(s): 07078

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Short

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

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Short

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