cut short

Idioms  

1. Abbreviate, stop abruptly, as in The thunderstorm cut short our picnic, or She cut her short, saying she'd already heard the story of their breakup. Shakespeare used this term to mean “put a sudden end to someone's life”: “Rather than bloody war shall cut them short” (2 Henry VI, 4:4), a less common usage today. The broader usage dates from the mid-1600s.

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Example Sentences

Christina Applegate looks back on a troubled personal life and a career cut short by disease in “You With the Sad Eyes.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

With their visit cut short, she became upset.

From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026

The idea of having Foden as Kane's central striking understudy is now a non-starter after the experiment of using him as a false nine against Japan was cut short after less than an hour.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

Higher oil prices will cut short the previously expected economic acceleration, and so Goldman now favors stocks with secular rather than cyclical growth profiles.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 16, 2026

Her hair was brown, cut short and held back with a sash the color of jade.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

Related Words

• abort
• break off
• curtail
• halt
• hinder
• interrupt
• postpone
• quit
• shorten
• terminate