come up short

idiom

: to not go far enough : be insufficient

The shot came up short of the target.

The state education budget came up short last year.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The Sixers come up short again Philadelphia had the third-best regular-season record (54-28) in the league, three games behind Boston and four games behind Milwaukee, and Joel Embiid won his first MVP. —Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 14 May 2023

Blum has advanced to the previous two state finals and has come up short each time. —David Hinojosa, San Antonio Express-News, 16 Nov. 2022

Since that call, progressives have come up short in the 2022 primaries. —Rick Klein, ABC News, 22 June 2022

While the sleek lines are stunning, sometimes midcentury sofas come up short in the comfort department. —Maria Conti, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Apr. 2023

But Ballard has always talked about, and typically come up short, of building the kind of depth that would give the Colts the wave of pass rushers, and Indianapolis has decisions to make at defensive end due to free agency. —The Indianapolis Star, 3 Mar. 2023

The number of times the Bills have come up short of the Super Bowl during five playoff trips in head coach Sean McDermott's six seasons with the team. —Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2023

Now its most visible proponent, Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, has come up short in her election bid. —Christopher Beem, CNN, 15 Nov. 2022

Judge likely will come up short of becoming the first AL Triple Crown winner since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012. —Stephen Hawkins, Anchorage Daily News, 5 Oct. 2022

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