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

See Examples For:

cut short

But in the capital, leading museums including the Louvre will be closed on Saturday while the Art Basel art fair is being cut short.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

First elected president in 2017 and re-elected in May 2022, Vucic cut short his five-year term to campaign for prime minister, although the law did not require him to resign.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

An injury cut short Alexandre Pantoja’s first title bout with Joshua Van.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

She says the royals remain "highly vulnerable" to anything that evokes the story of a "beautiful princess whose life was cut short in such tragic and ambiguous circumstances".

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

She has soft auburn hair cut short, a calm voice, and patient eyes that crinkle when she laughs.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

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Related Words

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

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