Word definition: short

Etimology


From Middle English schort, short, from Old English sċeort, sċort (“short”), from Proto-West Germanic *skurt, from Proto-Germanic *skurtaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-. Cognate with shirt, skirt, curt, Scots short, schort (“short”), French court, Dutch kort, German kurz, Old High German scurz (“short”) (whence Middle High German schurz), Old Norse skorta (“to lack”) (whence Danish skorte), Albanian shkurt (“short, brief”), Latin curtus (“shortened, incomplete”), Proto-Slavic *kortъkъ. Doublet of curt. More at shirt.

adjective


short (comparative shorter, superlative shortest)

Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

(of a person) Of comparatively small height.

Having little duration.

(followed by for) Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).

(cricket, of a fielder or fielding position) that is relatively close to the batsman.

(cricket, of a ball) bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.

(golf, of an approach shot or putt) that falls short of the green or the hole.

(gambling) Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.

(baking, of pastries, metallurgy) Brittle, crumbly. (See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust, shortening, hot short, cold-short.)

Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.

Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.

Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.

Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.

(colloquial) Undiluted; neat.

(obsolete) Not distant in time; near at hand.

(finance) Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.

(by extension) Doubtful of, skeptical of.

(finance, dated) Of money: given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.

Examples


Antonym: long

Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it’s been at least twenty minutes long.

Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.

"Phone" is short for "telephone" and "asap" short for "as soon as possible".

I chose to interpret the references to butter and sugar as indicating that a short pastry was required.

He gave a short answer to the question.

“We are short to-night!” cries the woman, with a propitiatory laugh. “Short and snappish we are! […] ”

a short supply of provisions

to be short of money

I'd lend you the cash but I'm a little short at present.

The cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.

an account which is short of the truth

[…] the people are worn down with taxes, and hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse them again to war.

“There ain’t no drain of nothing short handy, is there?” said the Chicken, generally. “This here sluicing night is hard lines to a man as lives on his condition.”Captain Cuttle proffered a glass of rum […]

Delance raised his beer and watched Hoadly throw down another swig of hard stuff. "Take it short if you want to make it over the mountain tonight."

Marinell was sore offended / That his departure thence should be so short.

He commanded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready by a short day.

But, alas! he who escapes from death is not pardoned; he is only reprieved, and reprieved to a short day.

Coordinate term: long

short position

I'm short in General Motors because I think their sales are plunging.

Antonym: long

He pulled a cheque-book from his pocket, and drew for two hundred thousand pounds. “I'll take it short,” he said […]

Related words


synonyms

(having a small distance between ends or edges): low, narrow, slim, shallow

(of a person, of comparatively little height): little, pint-sized, petite, titchy (slang)

(having little duration): brief, concise

(constituting an abbreviation (for)): an abbreviation of, a short form of

antonyms

(having a small distance between ends or edges): tall, high, wide, broad, deep, long

(of a person, of comparatively little height): tall

(having little duration): long

(cricket, of a fielder or fielding position, relatively close to the batsman): long

(financial position expecting falling value): long

adverb


short (not comparable)

Abruptly, curtly, briefly.

Unawares.

Without achieving a goal or requirement.

(cricket, of the manner of bounce of a cricket ball) Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.

(finance) With a negative ownership position.

Examples


They had to stop short to avoid hitting the dog in the street.

He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.

The boss got a message and cut the meeting short.

The recent developments at work caught them short.

His speech fell short of what was expected.

We went short most finance companies in July.

noun


short (plural shorts)

A short circuit.

A short film.

A short version of a garment in a particular size.

(baseball) A shortstop.

(finance) A short seller.

(finance) A short sale or short position.

A summary account.

(phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

(programming) An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.

(US, slang) An automobile; especially in crack shorts, to break into automobiles.

Examples


Preceded by a Simpsons short shot in 3-D—perhaps the only thing more superfluous than a fourth Ice Age movie—Ice Age: Continental Drift finds a retinue of vaguely contemporaneous animals coping with life in the post-Pangaea age.

38 short suits fit me right off the rack.

Do you have that size in a short?

Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.

The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.

He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.

For the short and the long is, our play is preferred.

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.

For example, one addict would crack shorts and usually obtain just enough stolen goods to buy stuff and get off just before getting sick.

[…] list of all crimes reported by these 61 daily criminals during their years on the street is: theft , dealing, forgery, gambling, confidence games […]

verb


short (third-person singular simple present shorts, present participle shorting, simple past and past participle shorted)

(transitive) To cause a short circuit in (something).

(intransitive, of an electrical circuit) To short circuit.

(transitive) To shortchange.

(transitive, informal) To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.

(transitive, business) To sell something, especially securities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; to sell short.

(obsolete) To shorten.

Examples


This is the third time I’ve caught them shorting us.

preposition


short

Deficient in.

(finance) Having a negative position in.

Examples


We are short a few men on the second shift.

He's short common sense.

I don’t want to be short the market going into the weekend.

Related words


synonyms

(deficient in): lacking, short on

Data provided by Wiktionary