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; brusque: 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 followed 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.
Cooking.
(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.
(of metals) deficient in tenacity; friable; brittle.
(of the head or skull) of less than ordinary length from front to back.
Stock Exchange.
not possessing at the time of sale commodities or stocks that one sells.
noting 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.
Prosody.
(of a syllable in quantitative verse) lasting a relatively shorter time than a long syllable.
Ceramics. (of clay) not plastic enough to be modeled.
Ropemaking. hard (def. 39).
adverb
abruptly or suddenly: to stop short.
briefly; curtly.
on the near side of an intended or particular point: The arrow landed short.
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.
noun
something that is short.
that which is deficient or lacking.
Usually the short . the sum and substance of a matter; gist: Here's the short of it: they broke up two weeks before the wedding.See also long1 (def. 39).
shorts,
trousers, knee-length or shorter.
short pants worn by men as an undergarment.
knee 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.Compare fine1 (def. 31a).
remnants, discards, or refuse of various cutting and manufacturing processes.
a size of garment for men who are shorter than average: He wears a 42 short.
a garment, as a suit or overcoat, in such a size.
Military. a shot that strikes or bursts short of the target.
Electricity. short circuit.
Prosody. a short sound or syllable.
Baseball. shortstop (def. 1).
Movies. short subject.
Finance. short seller.
a deficiency or the amount of a deficiency.
Chiefly British. a small drink of straight whiskey; shot.
verb (used with object)
to cause a short circuit in.
to cheat by giving less than is expected or deserved; shortchange.
verb (used without object)
to short-circuit.
Idioms for short
cut short, to end abruptly; terminate: Her nap was cut short by a loud noise from outside.
fall / come 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.
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.
make short work of. work (def. 53).
run short, to be in insufficient supply: My patience is running short.
sell short,
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.
short and sweet. See entry at 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.
Origin of short
First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective schort, Old English sceort; cognate with Old High German scurz “short,” Old Norse skortr “shortness, scarcity”
SYNONYMS FOR short
5 terse, succinct, laconic, condensed.
6 curt; sharp, testy.
7 poor; deficient, inadequate, wanting, lacking.
12 crumbly.
14 brachycephalic.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR short ON THESAURUS.COM
ANTONYMS FOR short
3, 4 long.
SEE ANTONYMS FOR short ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for short
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 especially to duration of time: brief intervals.
In short, he moved closer to Pelosi’s position after a monthlong showdown.
Trump moves closer to Pelosi in economic aid talks, and House speaker must decide next move|Rachael Bade, Erica Werner|September 17, 2020|Washington Post
Antebellum, the film, has its roots in a short story the duo wrote in October 2017.
‘Antebellum’ tackles the past head on in an effort to ‘move forward’|radmarya|September 17, 2020|Fortune
When a QED calculation leads to an infinite sum, cut it short.
How Mathematical ‘Hocus-Pocus’ Saved Particle Physics|Charlie Wood|September 17, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Rapid short-term cooling following the Chicxulub impact at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary.
Dawn of the Heliocene - Issue 90: Something Green|Summer Praetorius|September 16, 2020|Nautilus
For best results, cut a short section of FireCord and remove the red strand.
This essential survival tool can save your life 10 different ways|By Tim MacWelch/Outdoor Life|September 15, 2020|Popular Science
In short, fatherhood gets little attention in policy debates.
How Good Dads Can Change the World|Gary Barker, PhD, Michael Kaufman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But the qualities Mario Cuomo brought to public life—compassion, integrity, commitment to principle—remain in short supply today.
President Cuomo Would’ve Been a Lion|Jonathan Alter|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In short, we found ways to couch messages of failure or inadequacy.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating|Ellie Schaack|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sometimes a column has the economy and rhythm of a short story.
The Best Columns of 2014|John Avlon, Errol Louis|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The exposure and buzz from Short Term have raised her profile considerably.
Brie Larson’s Hollywood Transformation|Marlow Stern|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sure of the result, he pressed with his finger tips upon the lower end of that short piece of board.
Murder at Bridge|Anne Austin
The Gods, in short belong to the region of belief, while morality belongs to that of practice.
The Necessity of Atheism|Dr. D.M. Brooks
The smaller male hardly tapers behind, but is incurved and ends in a short, blunt, conical tail.
A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II|Various
In short, he accumulated all the information he could by which the cost of logging might be estimated.
The Blazed Trail|Stewart Edward White
Jimmy, guided by Beth, swept along the village street, charged the short hill to the vicarage gate and pulled up before the door.
The Smuggler's Cave|George A. Birmingham
British Dictionary definitions for short
short
/ (ʃɔːt) /
adjective
of little length; not long
of little height; not tall
of limited duration
not meeting a requirement; deficientthe number of places laid at the table was short by four
(postpositive; often foll by of or on)lacking (in) or needful (of)I'm always short of money
concise; succinct
lacking in the power of retentivenessa short memory
abrupt to the point of rudenessthe salesgirl was very short with him
finance
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
phonetics
denoting a vowel of relatively brief temporal duration
classified as short, as distinguished from other vowels. Thus in English (ɪ) in bin, though of longer duration than (iː) in beat, is nevertheless regarded as a short vowel
(in popular usage) denoting the qualities of the five English vowels represented orthographically in the words pat, pet, pit, pot, put, and putt
prosody
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 textureSee also shortcrust pastry
(of a drink of spirits) undiluted; neat
(of betting odds) almost even
have someone by the short and curliesinformalto have (someone) completely in one's power
in short supplyscarce
short and sweetunexpectedly brief
short foran abbreviation for
adverb
abruptlyto stop short
briefly or concisely
rudely or curtly
financewithout possessing the securities or commodities at the time of their contractual saleto sell short
caught shortortaken shorthaving a sudden need to urinate or defecate
fall short
to prove inadequate
(often foll by of)to fail to reach or measure up to (a standard)
go shortnot to have a sufficient amount, etc
short ofexceptnothing short of a miracle can save him now
noun
anything that is short
a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer
phoneticsprosodya short vowel or syllable
finance
a short contract or sale
a short seller
a short film, usually of a factual nature
See short circuit (def. 1)
for shortinformalas an abbreviationhe is called Jim for short
in short
as a summary
in a few words
verb
See short circuit (def. 2)
See also shorts
Derived forms of short
shortness, noun
Word Origin for short
Old English scort; related to Old Norse skortr a lack, skera to cut, Old High German scurz short