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

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

Francesca and Michaela’s upcoming hero romance has been in motion for some time and promises to grant queerness a front-and-center visibility that was cut short when Benedict ended his romance with Lady Tilley and Paul.

From Salon • Mar. 4, 2026

Historically, Iran’s Mehrabad airport in Tehran was emerging as a global hub connecting East and West in the 1970s, but that trajectory cut short by the Iranian Revolution, Harteveldt said.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 28, 2026

Her long brown hair is now cut short, up to her ears, and she’s got bangs, too, short little bangs that hit halfway on her forehead.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Related Words

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