short

American  

[shawrt] / ʃɔrt /

adjective

• shorter,
  comparative
• shortest
  superlative

1. having little length; not long.

2. having little height; not tall.

   a short man.

3. extending or reaching only a little way.

   a short path.

   Antonyms:

   long

4. brief in duration; not extensive in time.

   a short wait.

   Antonyms:

   long

5. brief or concise, as writing.

   Synonyms:

   condensed, laconic, succinct, terse

6. rudely brief; abrupt; brusque.

   short behavior.

   Synonyms:

   testy, sharp, curt

7. low in amount; scanty.

   short rations.

   Synonyms:

   lacking, wanting, inadequate, deficient, poor

8. not reaching a point, mark, target, or the like; not long enough or far enough.

9. below the standard in extent, quantity, duration, etc..

   short measure.

10. having a scanty or insufficient amount of (often followed by in oron ).

    He was short in experience.

11. being below a necessary or desired level; lacking.

    The office is short due to winter colds and flu.

12. Cooking.

    1. (of pastry and the like) crisp and flaky; breaking or crumbling readily from being made with a large proportion of butter or other shortening.

    2. (of dough) containing a relatively large amount of shortening.

    Synonyms:

    crumbly

13. (of metals) deficient in tenacity; friable; brittle.

14. (of the head or skull) of less than ordinary length from front to back.

    Synonyms:

    brachycephalic

15. Stock Exchange.

    1. not possessing at the time of sale commodities or stocks that one sells.

    2. noting or pertaining to a sale of commodities or stocks that the seller does not possess, depending for profit on a decline in prices.

       You can cover your short transactions by purchasing securities in the distribution at the reduced price.

16. Phonetics.

    1. lasting a relatively short time.

       “Bit” has a shorter vowel-sound than “bid” or “bead.”

    2. belonging to a class of sounds considered as usually shorter in duration than another class, as the vowel of but as compared to that of bought, and in many languages serving as a distinctive feature of phonemes, as the a in German Bann in contrast with the ah in Bahn, or the t in Italian fato in contrast with the tt in fatto (opposed to long).

    3. having the sound of the English vowels in bat, bet, bit, hot, but, and put, historically descended from vowels that were short in duration.

17. Prosody.

    1. (of a syllable in quantitative verse) lasting a relatively shorter time than a long syllable.

    2. unstressed.

18. (of an alcoholic drink) small.

    a short drink.

19. Chiefly British. (of whiskey) undiluted; straight.

20. Ceramics. (of clay) not plastic enough to be modeled.

21. Ropemaking. hard.

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adverb

1. abruptly or suddenly.

   to stop short.

2. briefly; curtly.

3. on the near side of an intended or particular point.

   The arrow landed short.

4. Baseball.

   1. with the hands higher on the handle of the bat than usual.

      He held the bat short and flied out.

   2. in a fielding position closer to home plate than usual.

noun

• shorts
  plural

1. something that is short.

2. that which is deficient or lacking.

3. Usually the short the sum and substance of a matter; gist.

   Here's the short of it: they broke up two weeks before the wedding.

4. shorts,

   1. trousers, knee-length or shorter.

   2. short pants worn by men as an undergarment.

   3. knee breeches, formerly worn by men.

   4. Finance. short-term bonds.

   5. Mining. crushed ore failing to pass through a given screen, thus being of a larger given size than a specific grade.

   6. remnants, discards, or refuse of various cutting and manufacturing processes.

5. a size of garment for men who are shorter than average.

   He wears a 42 short.

6. a garment, as a suit or overcoat, in such a size.

7. Military. a shot that strikes or bursts short of the target.

8. Electricity. short circuit.

9. Prosody. a short sound or syllable.

10. Baseball. shortstop.

11. Movies. short subject.

12. Finance. short seller.

13. a deficiency or the amount of a deficiency.

14. Chiefly British. a small drink of straight whiskey; shot.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause a short circuit in.

2. to cheat by giving less than is expected or deserved; shortchange.

3. Stock Exchange. to sell (stocks, commodities, etc.) that one does not possess, with the intent of making a profit by purchasing them later at a lower price.

   He speculates on bubbles by shorting stocks that are overpriced, overhyped, and overdue for a slide.

verb (used without object)

1. to short-circuit.

idioms

1. short for, being a shorter form of; abbreviated to.

   “Phone” is short for “telephone.”

2. short and sweet. see short and sweet.

3. short of,

   1. less than; inferior to.

   2. inadequately supplied with (money, food, etc.).

   3. without going to the length of; failing of; excluding.

      Short of murder, there is nothing he wouldn't have tried to get what he wanted.

4. in short,

   1. in summary.

   2. in few words; in brief.

      In short, this has been rather a disappointing day.

5. cut short, to end abruptly; terminate.

   Her nap was cut short by a loud noise from outside.

6. run short, to be in insufficient supply.

   My patience is running short.

7. make short work of. work.

8. fall / come short,

   1. to fail to reach a particular standard.

   2. to prove insufficient; be lacking.

      Her funds fell short, and she had to wire home for help.

9. for short, by way of abbreviation.

   Her name is Patricia, and she's called Pat for short.

10. sell short,

    1. Stock Exchange. to sell stocks or the like without having them in one's actual possession at the time of the sale.

    2. to disparage or underestimate.

       Don't sell Tom short; he's really an excellent engineer.

short British  

/ ʃɔːt /

adjective

1. of little length; not long

2. of little height; not tall

3. of limited duration

4. not meeting a requirement; deficient

   the number of places laid at the table was short by four

5. (postpositive; often foll by of or on) lacking (in) or needful (of)

   I'm always short of money

6. concise; succinct

7. lacking in the power of retentiveness

   a short memory

8. abrupt to the point of rudeness

   the salesgirl was very short with him

9. finance

   1. not possessing the securities or commodities that have been sold under contract and therefore obliged to make a purchase before the delivery date

   2. of or relating to such sales, which depend on falling prices for profit

10. phonetics

    1. denoting a vowel of relatively brief temporal duration

    2. classified as short, as distinguished from other vowels. Thus in English ( ɪ ) in bin, though of longer duration than ( iː ) in beat, is nevertheless regarded as a short vowel

    3. (in popular usage) denoting the qualities of the five English vowels represented orthographically in the words pat, pet, pit, pot, put, and putt

11. prosody

    1. denoting a vowel that is phonetically short or a syllable containing such a vowel. In classical verse short vowels are followed by one consonant only or sometimes one consonant plus a following l or r

    2. (of a vowel or syllable in verse that is not quantitative) not carrying emphasis or accent; unstressed

12. (of pastry) crumbly in texture See also shortcrust pastry

13. (of a drink of spirits) undiluted; neat

14. (of betting odds) almost even

15. informal to have (someone) completely in one's power

16. scarce

17. unexpectedly brief

18. an abbreviation for

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adverb

1. abruptly

   to stop short

2. briefly or concisely

3. rudely or curtly

4. finance without possessing the securities or commodities at the time of their contractual sale

   to sell short

5. having a sudden need to urinate or defecate

6. 1. to prove inadequate

   2. (often foll by of) to fail to reach or measure up to (a standard)

7. not to have a sufficient amount, etc

8. except

   nothing short of a miracle can save him now

noun

1. anything that is short

2. a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer

3. phonetics prosody a short vowel or syllable

4. finance

   1. a short contract or sale

   2. a short seller

5. a short film, usually of a factual nature

6. See short circuit

7. informal as an abbreviation

   he is called Jim for short

8. 1. as a summary

   2. in a few words

verb

1. See short circuit

short More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing short

• by the short hairs
• caught short
• cut short
• fall short
• for short
• in brief (short)
• in short order
• in short supply
• in the long (short) run
• life is too short
• long (short) haul
• long and short of it
• make a long story short
• make short work of
• nothing short of
• run short
• sell short
• stop short

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Synonym Usage

Short, brief are opposed to long, and indicate slight extent or duration. Short may imply duration but is also applied to physical distance and certain purely spatial relations: a short journey. Brief refers especially to duration of time: brief intervals.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overshortness
  noun
• shortness
  noun
• overshort
  adjective
• unshort
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• shorts
  plural

Adjectives

• shorter
  comparative
• shortest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of short

First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective schort, Old English sceort; cognate with Old High German scurz “short,” Old Norse skortr “shortness, scarcity”

Explanation

Short describes something that is not as long as usual. If your childhood bed is too short for you, your feet will dangle over the edge, and if a school day is short, you'll get out early. The adjective short describes things that aren't long when you measure them, or have a small distance from one end to another, like your short hair or the short walk to the library. A small amount of time can also be described as short, like a short chat with your mom. As a verb, short can describe cheating someone out of money or not paying what is owed, like a friend who shorts you when the lunch bill arrives.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

short shorts shorter shortest

Disney launched its short form video platform Verts in the US in March, with plans to expand that further around the world.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

“I’d love to take a crack at either short stories or writing a novel.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

In the Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir, at least 31 people been killed in several short bursts of extremely intense rainfall, according to a report by the public state broadcaster.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

"This story is nothing short of miraculous," he added.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

He supposed it was not an absurdly short season.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

"Here was a guy at the bottom of the bed, just standing with shorts on. He had something in his hand which I took to be the key card for the room."

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Sophisticated hedge funds used them as funding shorts to amplify their bets on highflying semiconductor names, power stocks and shares of other companies cashing in on the massive AI buildout, McElligott said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

His informal getup, a T-shirt and shorts, contrasts with the elegant environment primed for business lunches and ostentatious dinners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

In the galleries, more than 200 pieces of production art and films will be presented in conjunction with a theatrical retrospective of animated shorts and features.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Ice cream drips down my wrist and onto my shorts.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Operating income declined 17% to $858 million, in part because of shorter early round NBA playoff series.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Would you rather live a poorer, shorter life without AI or a longer, richer one with it?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

“A shorter timeline would be artificially compressed and risks depriving this Court of a full record on which to decide this $110 billion case.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

With major investments, it could become a shorter and cheaper route to Ukraine than existing options via Greece or Poland.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

By then there was a long and growing list of pundits who claimed they predicted the catastrophe, but a far shorter list of people who actually did.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

The Tour’s top prize, the yellow jersey, goes to the rider with the shortest composite time over three weeks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

But Wexler says 5,000 years ago, the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year -held more significance for the ancient communities.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

"A process is underway... to approve all pending applications in the shortest time possible."

From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026

Eastside riders would be best served by riding the E Line in Maravilla to the Union Station shuttles, which provides the shortest possible ride from the Boyle Heights and East L.A. area.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

I did my best to find the shortest path around them.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Related Words

• abbreviated
• brief
• crisp
• precise
• shortened
• terse