shortcut

1 of 2

noun

short·cut ˈshȯrt-ˌkət

also -ˈkət

: a route more direct than the one ordinarily taken

: a method or means of doing something more directly and quickly than and often not so thoroughly as by ordinary procedure

a shortcut to success

: a key or combination of keys on a computer keyboard programmed to perform a specific function when pressed

You can open any item by clicking it or by assigning it a keyboard shortcut.

Christopher Breen

called also hot key

shortcut

2 of 2

verb

shortcut; shortcutting

transitive verb

: to shorten (a route, a procedure, etc.) by use of a shortcut

also : circumvent

intransitive verb

: to take or use a shortcut

Example Sentences

Noun Wait, I know a shortcut. Turn left here. We took a shortcut home. Let's take the shortcut through the woods. I used a shortcut to calculate the total weight. There are no shortcuts to learning another language. Mistakes were made because too many shortcuts were taken. Verb are you sure there's no way to shortcut the entrance requirements? See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

With that, the shortcut should be faster and less prone to strange compositing errors.

José Adorno, BGR, 8 Nov. 2022 Your time-saving shortcut will compact the soil, which isn't good for plants.

Viveka Neveln, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Aug. 2022 In popular culture, toad-licking has become a shortcut for a psychedelic trip.

Nathan Solisstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 9 Nov. 2022 Porsche's long list of individual options offers all sorts of ways to customize the look of your car, but certain styling packages like the new Style Edition versions of the 2024 718 Boxster and Cayman are like a shortcut.

Joey Capparella, Car and Driver, 1 Nov. 2022 There’s also an easier 1.3-mile round trip shortcut.

Amelia Arvesen, Outside Online, 26 Oct. 2022 In quantum computing, for example, entanglement between the quantum bits is generally the resource that creates a shortcut to finding a solution to the problem unavailable to a classical computer.

Philip Ball, Scientific American, 25 Oct. 2022 Many, though, still turn to the quickest shortcut available: agents.

New York Times, 25 July 2022 However, for young artists aspiring to reach LL’s level of success — like the late PnB Rock — bling still provides an alluring shortcut to status despite the risks.

Oliver Wang, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2022

Verb

This Dell makes the higher spend worth it with features like its Dell Display Manager that gives you auto-restore, multiple preset layouts, and shortcut keys for quickly rearranging your display.

PCMAG, 10 Nov. 2022 As Elliott and Logano ducked to the inside of the track to shortcut the one-mile track’s dogleg, the No. 9 car appeared to brush the nose of the No. 1, and Chastain seemingly didn’t budge for Elliott.

Michelle R. Martinelli, USA TODAY, 7 Nov. 2022 The bottom line is that SPACs can be a great vehicle to shortcut bureaucracy.

Rotem Gantz, Forbes, 2 Aug. 2022 The same menu has the system settings shortcut (the icon to the lower left on the panel).

David Nield, Wired, 15 Nov. 2021 Oftentimes, shoppers shortcut the simple pieces since they are offered in many places, but quality basics go a long way and can save you a few shopping trips and most importantly, save you money in the long run.

Greg Emmanuel, Essence, 23 Nov. 2021 Public health officials believe vaccination progress in Minnesota shortcut this spring's pandemic wave — despite a more infectious B.1.1.7 variant causing three-fourths of the state's new cases.

Jeremy Olson, Star Tribune, 25 May 2021 The way prosthetics work now, people can shortcut around a lack of touch by seeing whether stuff is being gripped by the robotic fingers, but eyeballing is less helpful when the object is slippery, moving, or just out of sight.

Max G. Levy, Wired, 20 May 2021 From time to time, scammers — some savvy, others bumbling amateurs — try to shortcut the path to riches.

Tim Evans, The Indianapolis Star, 11 Nov. 2020 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shortcut.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.