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WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026short /ʃɔrt/USA pronunciation
adj., -er, -est, adv., n., v. adj. - having little length or height:the shortest boy in class.
- extending only a little way:a short path.
- brief:a short time.
- rudely brief;
abrupt:surprised by his short reply.
- low in amount or number:short rations.
- not reaching a standard, level, etc.;
deficient:The pound of apples that you bought was short by several ounces.
- made with a large amount of shortening:short pastry.
- not having enough;
lacking:[often: ~] + [on/in] + [object]always short on money.
- Phonetics
- having the sound of the English vowels in bat, bet, bit, hot, but, and put, historically descended from vowels that were short in duration.
adv. - abruptly or suddenly:to stop short.
- briefly;
curtly.
- on the near side of a point:The arrow landed short.
n. [countable]
- something short.
- Business shorts, [plural]
- Clothingtrousers, knee-length or shorter.
- Clothingunderpants.
- Electricityshort circuit.
v. - to form a short circuit (in): [ ~ + obj]:The frayed wire shorted the connection.[ no obj]:The car kept shorting.
Idioms
- Idioms come or fall short, [no object]
- to fail to reach a standard, level, etc.:The arrow fell short of the target.
- to be lacking:We came up short in our bid for the painting.
- Idioms cut short, [no object] to end abruptly;
terminate.
- Idioms for short, as a shorter way of saying or naming something:Barbara was called Barb for short.
- Idioms in short:
- in summary;
stated or said briefly:In short, gentlemen, we know what we're going to do.
short•ness, n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026short
(shôrt),USA pronunciation adj., -er, -est, adv., n., v. adj. - having little length;
not long.
- having little height;
not tall:a short man.
- extending or reaching only a little way:a short path.
- brief in duration;
not extensive in time:a short wait.
- brief or concise, as writing.
- rudely brief;
abrupt;
hurting:short behavior.
- low in amount;
scanty:short rations.
- not reaching a point, mark, target, or the like;
not long enough or far enough.
- below the standard in extent, quantity, duration, etc.:short measure.
- having a scanty or insufficient amount of (often fol. by in or on):He was short in experience.
- being below a necessary or desired level;
lacking:The office is short due to winter colds and flu.
- Food[Cookery.]
- (of pastry and the like) crisp and flaky;
breaking or crumbling readily from being made with a large proportion of butter or other shortening.
- (of dough) containing a relatively large amount of shortening.
- Metallurgy(of metals) deficient in tenacity;
friable;
brittle.
- Anatomy, Physical Anthropology(of the head or skull) of less than ordinary length from front to back.
- Stock Exchange, Business
- Businessnot possessing at the time of sale commodities or stocks that one sells.
- Businessnoting or pertaining to a sale of commodities or stocks that the seller does not possess, depending for profit on a decline in prices.
- Phonetics
- 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).
- having the sound of the English vowels in bat, bet, bit, hot, but, and put, historically descended from vowels that were short in duration.
- Poetry[Pros.]
- Poetry(of a syllable in quantitative verse) lasting a relatively shorter time than a long syllable.
- unstressed.
- Wine(of an alcoholic drink) small:a short drink.
- British Terms[Chiefly Brit.](of whiskey) undiluted;
straight.
- Ceramics(of clay) not plastic enough to be modeled.
- Textiles[Ropemaking.]hard (def. 39).
- short and sweet:
- pleasantly brief.
- pertinent:We're in a hurry, so make it short and sweet.
- short for, being a shorter form of;
abbreviated to:"Phone'' is short for "telephone.''
- short of:
- less than;
inferior to.
- inadequately supplied with (money, food, etc.).
- 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.
- make short work of. See work (def. 16).
adv. - abruptly or suddenly:to stop short.
- briefly;
curtly.
- on the near side of an intended or particular point:The arrow landed short.
- Sport[Baseball.]
- with the hands higher on the handle of the bat than usual:He held the bat short and flied out.
- in a fielding position closer to home plate than usual.
- come or fall short:
- to fail to reach a particular standard.
- to prove insufficient;
be lacking:Her funds fell short, and she had to wire home for help.
- cut short, to end abruptly;
terminate:Her nap was cut short by a loud noise from outside.
- run short, to be in insufficient supply:My patience is running short.
- Business sell short:
- Business[Stock Exchange.]to sell stocks or the like without having them in one's actual possession at the time of the sale.
- to disparage or underestimate:Don't sell Tom short; he's really an excellent engineer.
n. - something that is short.
- that which is deficient or lacking.
- the sum and substance of a matter;
gist (usually prec. by the).
- Business shorts:
- Clothingtrousers, knee-length or shorter.
- Clothingshort pants worn by men as an undergarment.
- Clothingknee breeches, formerly worn by men.
- [Finance.]short-term bonds.
- [Mining.]crushed ore failing to pass through a given screen, thus being of a larger given size than a specific grade. Cf. fine (def. 29a).
- remnants, discards, or refuse of various cutting and manufacturing processes.
- Clothinga size of garment for men who are shorter than average:He wears a 42 short.
- Clothinga garment, as a suit or overcoat, in such a size.
- Militarya shot that strikes or bursts short of the target.
- ElectricitySee short circuit.
- Poetry, Linguistics[Pros.]a short sound or syllable.
- Sport[Baseball.]shortstop (def. 1).
- Show Business[Motion Pictures.]See short subject.
- Business[Finance.]See short seller.
- a deficiency or the amount of a deficiency.
- British Terms[Chiefly Brit.]a small drink of straight whiskey;
shot.
- for short, by way of abbreviation:Her name is Patricia, and she's called Pat for short.
- in short:
- in summary.
- in few words;
in brief:In short, this has been rather a disappointing day.
v.t. - to cause a short circuit in.
- to cheat by giving less than is expected or deserved;
shortchange.
v.i. - to short-circuit.
- bef. 900; Middle English schort (adjective, adjectival), Old English sceort; cognate with Old High German scurz short, Old Norse skortr shortness, scarcity
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.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
short /ʃɔːt/ adj - of little length; not long
- of little height; not tall
- of limited duration
- not meeting a requirement; deficient: the number of places laid at the table was short by four
- (postpositive; often followed by of or on) lacking (in) or needful (of): I'm always short of money
- concise; succinct
- lacking in the power of retentiveness: a short memory
- abrupt to the point of rudeness: the judge was very short with him
- not possessing the securities or commodities that have been sold under contract and therefore obliged to make a purchase before the delivery date
- of or relating to such sales, which depend on falling prices for profit
- denoting a vowel of relatively brief temporal duration
- (in popular usage) denoting the qualities of the five English vowels represented orthographically in the words pat, pet, pit, pot, put, and putt
- denoting a vowel that is phonetically short or a syllable containing such a vowel. In classical verse short vowels are followed by one consonant only or sometimes one consonant plus a following l or r
- (of a vowel or syllable in verse that is not quantitative) not carrying emphasis or accent; unstressed
- (of pastry) crumbly in texture
- (of a drink of spirits) undiluted; neat
- (of betting odds) almost even
- in short supply ⇒ scarce
- short and sweet ⇒ unexpectedly brief
- short for ⇒ an abbreviation for
adv - abruptly: to stop short
- briefly or concisely
- rudely or curtly
- without possessing the securities or commodities at the time of their contractual sale: to sell short
- caught short, taken short ⇒ having a sudden need to urinate or defecate
- go short ⇒ not to have a sufficient amount, etc
- short of ⇒ except: nothing short of a miracle can save him now
n - anything that is short
- a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer
- a short vowel or syllable
- a short contract or sale
- a short seller
- a short film, usually of a factual nature
- for short ⇒ informal as an abbreviation: he is called Jim for short
- in short ⇒
- as a summary
- in a few words
vb - to sell (a security, currency, etc that one does have) in the expectation that falling prices will enable one to buy it back at a profit before it has to be delivered
Etymology: Old English scort; related to Old Norse skortr a lack, skera to cut, Old High German scurz shortˈshortness n
'short for' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
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