adjective, -er, -est, adverb, noun, verb | 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.
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| 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.
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| 16. | Phonetics.
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| 17. | Prosody.
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| 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). |
| 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.
|
| 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,
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| 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. |
| 40. | to cause a short circuit in. |
| 41. | to cheat by giving less than is expected or deserved; shortchange. |
| 42. | to short-circuit. |
| 43. | come or fall short,
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| 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,
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| 47. | make short work of. work (def. 52). |
| 48. | run short, to be in insufficient supply: My patience is running short. |
| 49. | sell short,
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| 50. | short and sweet,
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| 51. | short for, being a shorter form of; abbreviated to: “Phone” is short for “telephone.” |
| 52. | short of,
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short and sweet
Satisfyingly brief and pertinent, as in When we asked about the coming merger, the chairman's answer was short and sweet
it wasn't going to happen. This expression was already proverbial in 1539, when it appeared in Richard Taverner's translation of Erasmus's Adagia. Over the years it was occasionally amplified, as in James Kelly's Scottish Proverbs (1721): "Better short and sweet than long and lax."