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caught short

Found to be lacking something one needs, especially money, as in Can you pay the check? I seem to be caught short. This idiom uses short in the sense of “lacking money,” a usage dating from the early 1500s.

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RELATED WORDS

annoy, disturb, perplex, bewilder, perturb, faze, confuse, puzzle, upset, distract, shame, rattle, irk, plague, agitate, mortify, fluster, stun, bother, disconcert

Nearby words

  1. caudle cup,
  2. caught,
  3. caught dead, wouldn't be,
  4. caught flat-footed,
  5. caught in the middle,
  6. caught with one's pants down, be,
  7. caul,
  8. cauld,
  9. cauldrife,
  10. cauldron
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.