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

See Examples For:

cut short

That role was cut short, however, by Prada's acquisition of the flashy luxury label famous for its Medusa logo, owned by Capri Holdings Limited.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

The scandal surrounding Oscar Wilde’s final years cut short his life and changed how his work would be perceived.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

He said passengers were initially offered a 15% refund due to the air conditioning problems, which was increased to 40% when the cruise was cut short on the penultimate day.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

Although his rock career was cut short — he didn’t have the chops to play metal songs on bass — it flipped a switch for a young Díaz.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Her hair was cut short and pixie-ish now, blonder than in the pictures, but there was no question of her identity.

From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart

Related Words

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