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Synonyms

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.

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.

Nick Reiner appeared wearing a yellow jail jumper with his hair cut short.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026

He was elected prime minister in 2001 and again in 2005, and took himself into exile after his second term was cut short by a military coup.

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

The disruption cut short what had already been an unusual Correspondents’ Dinner.

From Salon • Apr. 25, 2026

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

But my hopes were cut short, when one day, as I was walking home, I saw a guy mad-dogging me from across the street.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

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.