| short shrift | |
| —n | |
| 1. | brief and unsympathetic treatment |
| 2. | (formerly) a brief period allowed to a condemned prisoner to make confession |
| 3. | make short shrift of to dispose of quickly and unsympathetically |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |