short of

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Having an inadequate supply of, as in We're short of cash right now. [Late 1600s] Also see fall short of.

Less than, inferior to, as in Nothing short of her best effort was needed to make the team. [Mid-1500s]

Other than, without resorting to, as in Short of yelling, I had no other way of getting his attention.

See stop short, def. 3.

QUIZ

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Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

Words nearby short of

As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The precision it took to craft such a cohesive, wholly compelling work over 12 years is nothing short of remarkable.
Oscars 2015: The Daily Beast’s Picks, From Scarlett Johansson to ‘Boyhood’|Marlow Stern|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In short, fatherhood gets little attention in policy debates.
How Good Dads Can Change the World|Gary Barker, PhD, Michael Kaufman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But the qualities Mario Cuomo brought to public life—compassion, integrity, commitment to principle—remain in short supply today.
President Cuomo Would’ve Been a Lion|Jonathan Alter|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST

In short, we found ways to couch messages of failure or inadequacy.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating|Ellie Schaack|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sometimes the stems are quite bare; on other occasions they are partly branched; in any case the branches are short.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
Many of their cannon balls that fell far short of us, were collected and returned to them with powerful effect.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
He was tall and of familiar figure, and the firelight was playing in the tossed curls of his short, fair hair.
The Bondboy|George W. (George Washington) Ogden
They are ovoid in shape, and lie in pairs, end to end, often forming short chains.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
And since he was a very fast runner—for short distances—he met Grandfather Mole just as the old chap was crawling up the bank.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey