caught short

Idioms

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.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

caught short

Speculators get caught short and are forced to sell some of their assets at fire-sale prices in order to raise cash to cover their debts.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 21, 2025

Anyone caught short on a day like that risked being crushed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025

Airlines say they also have staffed up since being caught short when travel began to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring and summer of 2022.

From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2024

Another time she gets caught short when hill walking and with her trousers still around her ankles overhears one of her children tell a passer-by that "mummy is off having a wee".

From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2024

He paused, caught short, and gave her an oily smile.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023