make short work of

Idioms and Phrases

Complete or consume quickly, as in The children made short work of the ice cream , or They made short work of cleaning up so they could get to the movies . This term, first recorded in 1577, in effect means “to turn something into a brief task.”

Related Words

• barrel
• bolt
• break
• charge
• chase
• dash
• dispatch
• fly
• hustle
• press
• push
• run
• scramble
• scurry
• shoot
• sprint
• zip