short

1 of 4

adjective

ˈshȯrt 

1

a

: having little length

b

: not tall or high : low

2

a

: not extended in time : brief

a short vacation

b

: not retentive

a short memory

c

: expeditious, quick

made short work of the problem

d

: seeming to pass quickly

made great progress in just a few short years

3

a

of a speech sound : having a relatively short duration

b

: being the member of a pair of similarly spelled vowel or vowel-containing sounds that is descended from a vowel that was short in duration but is no longer so and that does not necessarily have duration as its chief distinguishing feature

short i in sin

c of a syllable in prosody

(1)

: of relatively brief duration

(2)

: unstressed

4

: limited in distance

a short trip

5

a

: not coming up to a measure or requirement : insufficient

in short supply

b

: not reaching far enough

the throw to first was short

c

: enduring privation

d

: insufficiently supplied

short of breath

short of cash

short on brains

6

a

: abrupt, curt

I'm sorry I was short with you

b

: quickly provoked

a short temper

7

: choppy sense 2

8

: payable at an early date

a short loan

9

a

: containing or cooked with shortening

also : flaky

short pastry

b

of metal : brittle under certain conditions

10

a

: not lengthy or drawn out

a short speech

b

: made briefer : abbreviated

11

a

: not having goods or property that one has sold in anticipation of a fall in prices

b

: consisting of, relating to, or engaging in the sale of securities or commodities that the seller does not possess or has not contracted for at the time of the sale

short sale

a short seller

12

: near the end of a tour of duty

shortish

ˈshȯr-tish 

adjective

shortness

ˈshȯrt-nəs 

noun

short

2 of 4

adverb

1

: in a curt manner

2

: for or during a brief time

short-lasting

3

: at a disadvantage : unawares

caught short

4

: in an abrupt manner : suddenly

the car stopped short

5

: at some point or degree before a goal or limit aimed at or under consideration

the bombs fell short

quit a month short of graduation

6

: clean across

the axle was snapped short

7

: by or as if by a short sale

short

3 of 4

noun

1

: the sum and substance : upshot

2

a

: a short syllable

b

: a short sound or signal

3

shorts plural

a

: a by-product of wheat milling that includes the germ, fine bran, and some flour

b

: refuse, clippings, or trimmings discarded in various manufacturing processes

4

a

: knee-length or less than knee-length trousers

—usually used in plural

b

shorts plural : short drawers

c

: a size in clothing for short men

5

a

: one who operates on the short side of the market

b

shorts plural : short-term bonds

6

shorts plural : deficiencies

7

: short circuit

8

: shortstop

9

a

: short subject

b

: a brief story or article (as in a newspaper)

short

4 of 4

verb

shorted; shorting; shorts

1

transitive + intransitive : short-circuit

The electrical system also received upgrades: Most rooms had only three or fewer outlets, and plugging in multiple devices usually shorted the circuit.

—Steven Wyman-Blackburn

—often used with out in U.S. English

… microscopic particles of airborne dust are large enough to short out the chip's circuitry.

—Michael Rothschild

… were sabotaging the system by deliberately entering incorrect information into the computers and, if all else failed, hosing the computers down until they shorted out.

—John Sedgwick

2

transitive informal : shortchange, cheat

When she returned minutes later, she handed me a twenty-dollar bill and a five. No change and no receipt, which meant I couldn't call her on the fact that she'd shorted Henry by sixty-six cents.

—Sue Grafton

3

transitive finance : to sell (a security) short in expectation of a fall in prices

a heavily shorted stock

Today [in 2003], only two per cent of all United States stock-market shares are shorted, and even with looser restrictions short selling is likely to remain uncommon.

—James Surowiecki

Phrases

in short order

: with dispatch : quickly

for short

: as an abbreviation

named Katherine or Kate for short

in short

: by way of summary : briefly

Synonyms

Adjective

• little
• low
• low-lying
• low-slung
• sawed-off

Adverb

• abruptly
• suddenly

Verb

• beat
• bilk
• bleed
• cheat
• chisel
• chouse
• con
• cozen
• defraud
• diddle
• do
• do in
• euchre
• fiddle
• fleece
• flimflam
• gaff
• hose [slang]
• hustle
• mulct
• nobble [British slang]
• pluck
• ream
• rip off
• rook
• screw
• shake down
• shortchange
• skin
• skunk
• squeeze
• stick
• stiff
• sting
• sucker
• swindle
• thimblerig
• victimize

Examples of short in a Sentence

Adjective

One of my legs is slightly shorter than the other.

He is short for his age.

the shortest day of the year

Life's too short to worry about the past.

The movie was very short.

You have done a lot in a short space of time.

a short burst of speed

I've only lived here for a short time.

She has made great progress in a few short years.

He visited for two short weeks.

Adverb

He threw the ball short.

the bicyclist ahead of me unexpectedly pulled up short and I unavoidably plowed into him

Noun

The short before the main movie was very funny.

Verb

The lightning shorted the TV.

The hair dryer must have shorted.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The latter is the name of a short projection show at Disney California Adventure (DCA). —Eve Chen, USA Today, 17 May 2025

The Preakness at 1 3/16 miles is slightly shorter than the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby, but there’s optimism about close-to-normal conditions after nearly a week’s worth of rain fell on Baltimore and mucked up the dirt track at Pimlico Race Course. —Stephen Whyno, Baltimore Sun, 16 May 2025

Adverb

In the end Clark helped Indiana make the playoffs and the Sky came up short as Reese missed the final two weeks of games with a season-ending wrist injury. —Michael Marot, Baltimore Sun, 17 May 2025

Now Brown is back to reality, with another Boston Celtics season coming up short. —Jared Weiss, New York Times, 17 May 2025

Noun

Levi’s Mid-Length Shorts Nothing says summer in the South like a pair of denim shorts. —Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 18 May 2025

Mendonça crams the film with vivid time-capsule details: vintage American cars and vinyl records, token-hungry phone booths and old-school printing presses, obscenely tight shorts and sweltering heat. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 18 May 2025

Verb

Short sellers as the market’s watchdogs Despite the international bans on shorting securities, Grego and Moses agree that the benefits of the practice outweigh the risks. —Jacob Wolinsky, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs suggested shorting the Australian dollar and buying Japanese Yen as an effective hedge against declining dollar assets. —Ganesh Rao, CNBC, 27 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, from Old English sceort; akin to Old High German scurz short, Old Norse skortr lack

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adverb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1904, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing short

• at short notice
• at such short notice
• be on/have a short fuse
• bring up short
• caught short
• come short of
• come up short
• come up short of
• cut short
• fall short
• fall short of expectations
• for short
• gets short of breath
• in short
• in short supply
• in the short run
• in the short term
• make short/quick/light work of
• nothing short of
• on short notice
• on short rations
• on such short notice
• over the short run
• over the short term
• pull up short
• run short
• run short of
• sell short
• short and sweet
• short ballot
• short circuit
• short-day
• short division
• short-eared owl
• short fuse
• short-grass prairie
• short-haired
• short-haul
• short-horned grasshopper
• short hundredweight
• short line
• short list
• short-lived
• short loin
• short memory
• short message service
• short-nosed cattle louse
• short of
• short of breath
• short of the mark
• short-order
• short-range
• short rations
• short ribs
• short run
• short-sheet
• short shrift
• short sight
• short space of time
• short-spoken
• short-staffed
• short-stay
• short-stop
• short story
• short subject
• short-tailed weasel
• short temper
• short-tempered
• short-term
• short-term memory
• short time
• short ton
• short weight
• short-winded
• stop short
• taken short
• the long and short
• the long and the short
• the long and (the) short of it
• the short end of the stick
• the short run
• the short term

Rhymes for short

• bort
• corte
• court
• dort
• fort
• mort
• norte
• ort
• port
• porte
• quart
• snort

Kids Definition

short

1 of 4 adjective

ˈshȯ(ə)rt 

1

: having little length or height : not long or tall

2

a

: not long in time : brief

a short delay

b

: not great in distance

a short walk

3

: not remembering for long

a short memory

4

: of, relating to, or being one of the vowel sounds \ə, a, e, i, u̇\ and sometimes \ä\ and \ȯ\

5

a

: not coming up to the regular standard or to what is needed

gave short measure

in short supply

b

: not reaching far enough

the throw was short

c

: not having enough

short of cash

6

: easily upset

has a short temper

7

: flaky sense 2, crumbly

8

: cut down to a brief length

a short tax form

"doc" is short for "doctor"

shortish

-ish 

adjective

short

2 of 4 adverb

1

: with suddenness

stopped short

2

: so as not to reach as far as expected

fell short of the mark

short

3 of 4 noun

1

: a short signal or sound (as in Morse Code)

2

plural

a

: pants that reach to the knees or not as far as the knees

b

: short underpants

3

: short circuit

short

4 of 4 verb

: short-circuit

Legal Definition

short

1 of 2 adjective

1

: treated or disposed of quickly in court

the calendar for short causes

2

: having a short term

short loans

short leases

3

a

: not having goods or property that one has sold in anticipation of a fall in prices

a seller who was short at the time of the sale

b

: consisting of or relating to a sale of securities or commodities that the seller does not possess or has not contracted for at the time of the sale

a short position

see also short sale 1 at sale

4

: not involving or providing a sufficient amount of money to cover a loan see also short sale 2 at sale, short refinance

short

2 of 2 adverb

: by or as if by a short sale

sold the stock short