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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Words nearby caught short
caudle cup, caught, caught dead, wouldn't be, caught flat-footed, caught in the middle, caught short, caul, cauld, cauldrife, cauldron, caulescent
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.