Short

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (usu participle), Adverb

CIDE DICTIONARY

Short, a. [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.].

•  Not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight.  [1913 Webster]

  "The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it."  [1913 Webster]
•  Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as, short breath.  [1913 Webster]

  "The life so short, the craft so long to learn."  [1913 Webster]

  "To short absense I could yield."  [1913 Webster]
•  Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "We shall be short in our provision."  [1913 Webster]
•  Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith.  [1913 Webster]
•  Not distant in time; near at hand.  [1913 Webster]

  "Marinell was sore offended
  That his departure thence should be so short."  [1913 Webster]

  "He commanded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready by a short day."  [1913 Webster]
•  Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory.  [1913 Webster]

  "Their own short understandings reach
  No farther than the present."  [1913 Webster]
•  Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); -- with of.  [1913 Webster]

  "Hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse them again to war."  [1913 Webster]
•  Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question.  [1913 Webster]
•  Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as, short pastry.  [1913 Webster]
•  Brittle.  [1913 Webster]

  " Metals that are brittle when hot are called ; 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."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  " 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."  [1913 Webster]
•  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, 1913 Webster]

  " 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."  [1913 Webster]

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, n. 

•  A summary account.  [1913 Webster]

  "The short and the long is, our play is preferred."  [1913 Webster]
•  The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran.  [1913 Webster]

  "The first remove above bran is shorts."  [1913 Webster]
•  Short, inferior hemp.  [1913 Webster]
•  Breeches; shortclothes.  Dickens.  [1913 Webster]
•  A short sound, syllable, or vowel.  [1913 Webster]

  "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."  [1913 Webster]

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, adv. 

 In a short manner; briefly; limitedly; abruptly; quickly; as, to stop short in one's course; to turn short.  [1913 Webster]
"He was taken up very short, and adjudged corrigible for such presumptuous language."  [1913 Webster]

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, v. t. [AS. sceortian.].

 To shorten.  [1913 Webster]

Short, v. i. 

 To fail; to decrease.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Short, adj., adv., n., & v.
--adj.
1 a measuring little; not long from end to end (a short distance). b not long in duration; brief (a short time ago; had a short life). c seeming less than the stated amount (a few short years of happiness).
2 of small height; not tall (a short square tower; was shorter than average).
3 a (usu. foll. by of, on) having a partial or total lack; deficient; scanty (short of spoons; is rather short on sense). b not far-reaching; acting or being near at hand (within short range).
4 a concise; brief (kept his speech short). b curt; uncivil (was short with her).
5 (of the memory) unable to remember distant events.
6 Phonet. & Prosody of a vowel or syllable: a having the lesser of the two recognized durations. b unstressed. c (of an English vowel) having a sound other than that called long (cf. LONG(1) adj. 8).
7 a (of pastry) crumbling; not holding together. b (of clay) having poor plasticity.
8 esp. Stock Exch. a (of stocks, a stockbroker, crops, etc.) sold or selling when the amount is not in hand, with reliance on getting the deficit in time for delivery. b (of a bill of exchange) maturing at an early date.
9 Cricket a (of a ball) pitching relatively near the bowler. b (of a fielder or his position) relatively near the batsman.
10 (of a drink of spirits) undiluted.
--adv.
1 before the natural or expected time or place; abruptly (pulled up short; cut short the celebrations).
2 rudely; uncivilly (spoke to him short).
--n.
1 colloq. a short drink, esp. spirits.
2 a short circuit.
3 a short film.
4 Stock Exch. a a person who sells short. b (in pl.) short-dated stocks.
5 Phonet. a a short syllable or vowel. b a mark indicating that a vowel is short.
6 (in pl.) a mixture of bran and coarse flour.
--v.tr. & intr. short-circuit.

Idiom

be caught (or taken) short
1 be put at a disadvantage.
2 colloq. urgently need to urinate or defecate. bring up (or pull up) short check or pause abruptly. come short be inadequate or disappointing. come short of fail to reach or amount to. for short as a short name (Tom for short). get (or have) by the short hairs colloq. be in complete control of (a person). go short (often foll. by of) not have enough. in short to use few words; briefly. in short order US immediately. in the short run over a short period of time. in short supply scarce. in the short term = in the short run. make short work of accomplish, dispose of, destroy, consume, etc. quickly. short and sweet esp. iron. brief and pleasant. short-arm (of a blow etc.) delivered with the arm not fully extended. short back and sides a haircut in which the hair is cut short at the back and the sides. short change insufficient money given as change. short-change v.tr. rob or cheat by giving short change. short circuit an electric circuit through small resistance, esp. instead of the resistance of a normal circuit.
short-circuit
1 cause a short circuit or a short circuit in.
2 shorten or avoid (a journey, work, etc.) by taking a more direct route etc. short commons insufficient food.
short cut
1 a route shortening the distance travelled.
2 a quick way of accomplishing something. short date an early date for the maturing of a bill etc. short-dated due for early payment or redemption. short-day (of a plant) needing the period of light each day to fall below some limit to cause flowering. short division Math. division in which the quotient is written directly without being worked out in writing. short drink a strong alcoholic drink served in small measures. short-eared owl an owl, Asio flammeus, frequenting open country and hunting at dawn or dusk. short for an abbreviation for ('Bob' is short for 'Robert'). short fuse a quick temper. short game Golf approaching and putting. short-handed undermanned or understaffed.
short haul
1 the transport of goods over a short distance.
2 a short-term effort. short head Racing a distance less than the length of a horse's head. short-head v.tr. beat by a short head. short hundredweight see HUNDREDWEIGHT. short list Brit. a list of selected candidates from which a final choice is made. short-list v.tr. Brit. put on a short list. short-lived ephemeral; not long-lasting. short mark = BREVE 2. short measure less than the professed amount. short metre Prosody a hymn stanza of four lines with 6, 6, 8, and 6 syllables. short notice an insufficient length of warning time. short odds nearly equal stakes or chances in betting.
short of
1 see sense 3a of adj.
2 less than (nothing short of a miracle).
3 distant from (two miles short of home).
4 without going so far as; except (did everything short of destroying it). short of breath panting, short-winded. short on colloq. see sense 3a of adj. short order US an order in a restaurant for quickly cooked food. short-pitched Cricket (of a ball) pitching relatively near the bowler.
short-range
1 having a short range.
2 relating to a fairly immediate future time (short-range possibilities). short rib = floating rib. short score Mus. a score not giving all parts. short shrift curt or dismissive treatment. short sight the inability to focus except on comparatively near objects. short-sleeved with sleeves not reaching below the elbow. short-staffed having insufficient staff. short story a story with a fully developed theme but shorter than a novel. short suit a suit of less than four cards. short temper self-control soon or easily lost. short-term occurring in or relating to a short period of time. short time the condition of working fewer than the regular hours per day or days per week. short title an abbreviated form of a title of a book etc. short ton see TON. short view a consideration of the present only, not the future.
short waist
1 a high or shallow waist of a dress.
2 a short upper body. short wave a radio wave of frequency greater than 3 MHz. short weight weight less than it is alleged to be. short whist whist with ten or five points to a game. short wind quickly exhausted breathing-power.
short-winded
1 having short wind.
2 incapable of sustained effort.

Derivative

shortish adj. shortness n.

Etymology

OE sceort f. Gmc: cf. SHIRT, SKIRT

THESAURUS

Short

3-D, Bermuda shorts, Cinemascope, Cinerama, Spartan, Technicolor, Western, aback, abbreviate, abbreviated, abridged, abrupt, abruptly, adulterated, aggressive, all in all, amount, amplify, animated cartoon, apart from, aposiopestic, arrested, badly off, bankrupt in, bare of, barring, bear, bear account, bearish, beastly, before, bereft of, black-and-white film, blemished, bluff, blunt, brash, break, break in on, brief, briefly, brisk, broken circuit, brusque, burden, butt in, callow, cartoon, cavalier, charge, chiller, chunky, churlish, cinema, circuit, circuital field, clipped, close, close-tongued, closed circuit, closemouthed, color film, cometary, compact, compendious, complete circuit, compressed, concise, condensed, contracted, core, couchant, cramped, creepie, crisp, crouched, crusty, cursory, curt, curtail, curtailed, curtal, curtate, cut, cut off, cut short, damaged, dead circuit, debased, decreased, decurtate, defective, deficient, denuded of, depressed, deprived of, depthless, destitute of, devoid of, diminished, diminutive, dinky, direct, discourteous, distressed, docked, documentary, documentary film, down to bedrock, dumb, dumpy, dwarfish, economical of words, educational film, electrify, elfin, elliptic, embarrassed, embryonic, empty of, energize, epigrammatic, erroneous, except for, excepting, excluding, exclusive of, exiguous, fail, failing, fallible, faulty, feature, feeling the pinch, few, film, flashing, flat, fleet, flick, flicker, flickering, footling, for want of, forlorn of, forthwith, found wanting, galvanic circuit, galvanize, generate, gist, gnomic, gruff, half-pint, hard up, harsh, hastily, horror picture, horse opera, hot circuit, hot pants, hurriedly, hypoplastic, ill off, immature, impaired, impecunious, imperfect, impolite, imprecise, impure, in Queer Street, in a nutshell, in arrear, in arrears, in default, in default of, in narrow circumstances, in reduced circumstances, in short, in short supply, in straitened circumstances, in want of, inaccurate, inadequate, incomplete, inconsequential, inconsiderable, inconsiderate, indisposed to talk, inexact, infant, inferior, insignificant, instantaneous, instantly, insufficient, interrupt, irascible, knee-high, knocked flat, lacking, laconic, laid low, land-poor, lateral circuit, leaving out, leg, lessened, limited, little, live circuit, loop, loop in, low, low-built, low-hung, low-level, low-leveled, low-lying, low-set, low-statured, magnetic circuit, makeshift, meager, meat, mediocre, meteoric, microcircuit, midget, miniature, minus, minuscule, missing, mixed, momentary, motion picture, motion-picture show, movie, moving picture, multiple circuit, multiple series, mum, mute, narrow, neap, needing, negligible, newsreel, no great shakes, not perfect, nudie, off, offhand, on the edge, one-horse, out of, out of pocket, part, partial, patchy, path, penniless, peremptorily, petite, petty, photodrama, photoplay, picayune, picayunish, picture, picture show, piddling, pinched, pindling, pint-sized, pith, pithy, plug in, pocket, pointed, poky, poor, poorly off, pornographic film, precluding, preview, printed circuit, prone, pruned, puny, purport, quick, quiet, rare, recumbent, reduced, reserved, rough, runty, scant, scant of, scanty, scarce, scrappy, scrimpy, sententious, series multiple, setting aside, severe, shallow, sharp, shock, short account, short and sweet, short circuit, short interest, short of, short of funds, short of money, short seller, short side, short-circuit, short-lived, short-term, short-termed, shorten, shortened, shorts, shy, shy of, silent, silent film, sketchy, skimp, skimpy, skin flick, skin-deep, slender, slight, small, smallish, snappish, sneak preview, snippety, snippy, snug, spaghetti Western, sparing of words, sparse, speechless, speedy, squat, squatty, squeezed, step down, step up, stiffen, stint, stooped, stop, straight, straightforward, straitened, strapped, stubby, stumpy, stunted, succinct, sudden, suddenly, summary, superficial, supine, surly, swift, switch off, switch on, synopsized, synoptic, taciturn, talkie, talking picture, temporary, terminate, terse, testy, thick, thickset, thriller, thrust, tight, tight-lipped, tiny, to the point, tongue-tied, trailer, transient, transitory, trifling, trim, trivial, truculent, truncated, turn off, turn on, two-by-four, unanticipatedly, unaware, unblessed with, uncivil, underdeveloped, underground film, undeveloped, unelevated, uneven, unexpectedly, unfinished, ungracious, unloquacious, unmoneyed, unperfected, unpossessed of, unprosperous, unreached, unsound, untalkative, unthorough, upshot, vector field, vest-pocket, void of, wanting, wee, without warning, word-bound, wordless

ROGET THESAURUS

Short

Conciseness

N conciseness, brevity, the soul of wit, laconism, Tacitus, ellipsis, syncope, abridgment, compression, epitome, monostich, brunch word, portmanteau word, concise, brief, short, terse, close, to the point, exact, neat, compact, compressed, condensed, pointed, laconic, curt, pithy, trenchant, summary, pregnant, compendious, succinct, elliptical, epigrammatic, quaint, crisp, sententious, concisely, briefly, summarily, in brief, in short, in a word, in a few words, for shortness sake, to come to the point, to make a long story short, to cut the matter short, to be brief, it comes to this, the long and the short of it is, brevis esse laboro obscurus fio.

Littleness

N littleness, smallness, exiguity, inextension, parvitude, parvity, duodecimo, Elzevir edition, epitome, microcosm, rudiment, vanishing point, thinness, dwarf, pygmy, pigmy, Liliputian, chit, pigwidgeon, urchin, elf, atomy, dandiprat, doll, puppet, Tom Thumb, Hop-o'-my-thumb, manikin, mannikin, homunculus, dapperling, cock-sparrow, animalcule, monad, mite, insect, emmet, fly, midge, gnat, shrimp, minnow, worm, maggot, entozoon, bacteria, infusoria, microzoa, phytozoaria, microbe, grub, tit, tomtit, runt, mouse, small fry, millet seed, mustard seed, barleycorn, pebble, grain of sand, molehill, button, bubble, point, atom, fragment, powder, point of a pin, mathematical point, minutiae, micrometer, vernier, scale, microphotography, photomicrography, micrography, photomicrograph, microphotograph, microscopy, microscope (optical instruments), little, small, minute, diminutive, microscopic, microzoal, inconsiderable, exiguous, puny, tiny, wee, petty, minikin, miniature, pygmy, pigmy, elfin, undersized, dwarf, dwarfed, dwarfish, spare, stunted, limited, cramp, cramped, pollard, Liliputian, dapper, pocket, portative, portable, duodecimo, dumpy, squat, short, impalpable, intangible, evanescent, imperceptible, invisible, inappreciable, insignificant, inconsiderable, trivial, infinitesimal, homoeopathic, atomic, subatomic, corpuscular, molecular, rudimentary, rudimental, embryonic, vestigial, weazen, scant, scraggy, scrubby, thin, granular, shrunk, brevipennate, in a small compass, in a nutshell, on a small scale, minutely, microscopically.

Shortness

N shortness, brevity, littleness, a span, shortening, abbreviation, abbreviature, abridgment, concision, retrenchment, curtailment, decurtation, reduction, epitome, elision, ellipsis, conciseness, abridger, epitomist, epitomizer, short, brief, curt, compendious, compact, stubby, scrimp, shorn, stubbed, stumpy, thickset, pug, chunky, decurtate, retrousse, stocky, squab, squabby, squat, dumpy, little, curtailed of its fair proportions, short by, oblate, concise, summary, shortly, in short.

Discourtesy

N discourtesy, ill breeding, ill manners, bad manners, ungainly manners, insuavity, uncourteousness rusticity, inurbanity, illiberality, incivility displacency, disrespect, procacity, impudence: barbarism, barbarity, misbehavior, brutality, blackguardism, conduct unbecoming a gentleman, grossieret_e, brusquerie, vulgarity, churlishness, spinosity, perversity, moroseness, sternness, austerity, moodishness, captiousness, cynicism, tartness, acrimony, acerbity, virulence, asperity, scowl, black looks, frown, short answer, rebuff, hard words, contumely, unparliamentary language, personality, bear, bruin, brute, blackguard, beast, unlicked cub, frump, crosspatch, saucebox, crooked stick, grizzly, discourteous, uncourteous, uncourtly, ill-bred, ill-mannered, ill-behaved, ill-conditioned, unbred, unmannerly, unmannered, impolite, unpolite, unpolished, uncivilized, ungenteel, ungentleman-like, ungentlemanly, unladylike, blackguard, vulgar, dedecorous, foul- mouthed foul-spoken, abusive, uncivil, ungracious, unceremonious, cool, pert, forward, obtrusive, impudent, rude, saucy, precocious, repulsive, uncomplaisant, unaccommodating, unneighborly, ungallant, inaffable, ungentle, ungainly, rough, rugged, bluff, blunt, gruff, churlish, boorish, bearish, brutal, brusque, stern, harsh, austere, cavalier, taint, sour, crabbed, sharp, short, trenchant, sarcastic, biting, doggish, caustic, virulent, bitter, acrimonious, venomous, contumelious, snarling, surly, surly as a bear, perverse, grim, sullen, peevish, untactful, impolitic, undiplomatic, artless, discourteously, with discourtesy, with a bad grace.

Shortcoming

N shortcoming, failure, falling short, default, defalcation, leeway, labor in vain, no go, incompleteness, imperfection, insufficiency, noncompletion, failure, unreached, deficient, short, short of, minus, out of depth, perfunctory, within the mark, within the compass, within the bounds, behindhand, re infecta, to no purpose, for from it, the bubble burst.

Brittleness

N brittleness, fragility, friability, frangibility, fissibility, house of cards, house of glass, brittle, brash, breakable, weak, frangible, fragile, frail, gimcrack, shivery, fissile, splitting, lacerable, splintery, crisp, crimp, short, brittle as glass.