short list

¹

or shortlist

noun

1. a list of those people or items preferred or most likely to be chosen, as winnowed from a longer list of possibilities.

short-list

²

[ shawrt-list ]

verb (used with object)

1. to put on a short list.

short list

noun

1. a list of suitable applicants for a job, post, etc, from which the successful candidate will be selected

verb

1. to put (someone) on a short list

Word History and Origins

Origin of short list¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

When Krzyzewski went to summer camps to scout, he had a very short list of people he would go to dinner with between sessions.

From Washington Post

Many said Jensen had been on the short list of potential Council members, but few seemed to know much about her, leading to open speculation that her ascension was somehow improper.

From Voice of San Diego

Transurban is on a short list of those bidding for billions of dollars in state contracts to build toll lanes on the Beltway and Interstate 270 in Maryland.

From Washington Post

“If you’re not on that short list, you really need get creative,” he said.

From Digiday

To be a Third World country was to be on a short list of nations who were being asked to take a side amid the geopolitical chaos of the 1950’s Cold War.

From Fortune

On my short list of the great rock voices of all time, he is battling for the top spot with Mick Jagger.

From The Daily Beast

He had a short list that included George H.W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and some others.

From The Daily Beast

Tackle football is on a very short list of things my children are absolutely forbidden from doing.

From The Daily Beast

Not long before that interview, Leonard had published a short list of rules for writing.

From The Daily Beast

They came out right away with a defense of the books on the short list.

From The Daily Beast

The list is not long, but the insight of those who form this short list cannot but be recognized.

From Project Gutenberg

How genuine they were likely to be may be judged from a short list of the most venerated among them.

From Project Gutenberg

A short list of battles believed to have been composed by Spegelberg, the secretary of Bishop Brask, about the year 1524.

From Project Gutenberg

There is but a short list of geographical names: it contains, however, a Thermi-dava and a Pic-ensii.

From Project Gutenberg

It were easy to make a long list of erudite works; much easier than to make a short list of accessible and suggestive volumes.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• waiting list