a route that is shorter than the usual one
a means of saving time or effort
First recorded in 1560–70
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The legislators, however, said they will fight Newsom’s attempt to short-cut the established process.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2025
Stuart Duff, a UK business psychologist who describes his role as “working with people to understand how they behave in a workplace”, thinks that AI can offer a valid short-cut for even the best engineer.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2024
Let’s try the Expedia plug-in as a short-cut.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2023
I wouldn't recommend serving with a short-cut pasta, though.
From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2022
I’d referred, just in passing, to the fact that at Hailsham, the short-cut down to the pond through the rhubarb patch was out of bounds.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
But even if their homeland remains unstable, a refugee will not be allowed to permanently settle for 20 years - unless they "earn" a short cut through work or study.
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2025
Taking a short cut on the long walk to school, she stumbles on a pond in a wooded area.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2025
You can buy it ready made in a jar or even a box, off the grocery store shelf or use an equally accessible powdered packet as a short cut.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2025
“There are times when people react and think that government actions can be a short cut to getting things done,” he said.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2023
I realized that Perez, who knew the country, was taking a short cut in order to catch up with us.
From "The Stranger" by Albert Camus
So you can do it my short-cutting home cook's way, just know that when you do, a small part of a hard-working pastry chef's soul will die along with your sloppy swirls.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2023
It’s full of technologists who grow crops in buildings instead of outdoors, short-cutting the need to prematurely harvest produce for a bumpy ride often thousands of miles to consumers in colder climes.
From Washington Times ● May 10, 2018
"The process will continue for some months. The United States won't be short-cutting their security or health checks," said Turnbull.
From Reuters ● Nov. 13, 2016
And they warn that short-cutting the traditional clinical-trial process could make it more difficult to tell whether GM604 really works.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 3, 2015
Coming out upon a little lake—for we were now short-cutting across the country—we saw that the light over the distant hills had broken into a glorious flood of sunshine.
From The Drama of the Forests Romance and Adventure by Heming, Arthur Henry Howard
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.
