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caught short
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Idioms and Phrases
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.Discover More
Example Sentences
Executives at such companies vow never to get caught short again.
He caught short glimpses of another horse matching pace to the one that carried him.
I have many a time sat on T Wharf and caught short, flat flounders with my line.
Her sensitive ears caught short, puffing breaths—then the click of a key in the lock.
Instead of balls, they threw up and caught short burning torches.
They're caught short, and we can squeeze them to our hearts' content.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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