short-circuit

[shawrt-sur-kit]

See more synonyms for short-circuit on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

Electricity.
1. to make (an appliance, switch, etc.) inoperable by establishing a short circuit in.
2. to carry (a current) as a short circuit.
to bypass, impede, hinder, or frustrate: Bad weather short-circuited my vacation plans.

verb (used without object)

Electricity. to form a short circuit or become inoperable due to a short circuit.

Origin of short-circuit

First recorded in 1870–75

short circuit

noun Electricity.

an abnormal, usually unintentional condition of relatively low resistance between two points of different potential in a circuit, usually resulting in a flow of excess current.

Origin of short circuit

First recorded in 1875–80

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for short-circuit

duck, shuffle, sidestep, evade, elude, escape, ditch, skirt, trick, swerve, deceive, fence, pussyfoot, equivocate, lurch, parry, dark, slide, malinger, weasel

Examples from the Web for short-circuit

Contemporary Examples of short-circuit

This sort of sustained engagement can short-circuit racially triggered instances of the confirmation bias, wrote Dobbin.
Office Parties Are Bad for Business
Jesse Singal
December 19, 2013
The post concluded, “Question: short memory or short-circuit?”
Tesla Goes to War
Daniel Gross
May 23, 2013
There are 45 million people who have still got to choose and I am not going to short-circuit that.
Gordon Brown's Disastrous Day
Alex Massie
April 29, 2010

Historical Examples of short-circuit

The induced currents in the rod amounted to a short-circuit of the field.
Invasion
William Fitzgerald Jenkins
Direct contact with a Throg mind appears to short-circuit them.
Storm Over Warlock
Andre Norton
And in an eon of lying they never have run up against a short-circuit like that.
Letter of the Law
Alan Edward Nourse
He may short-circuit some of them by means of Colonel House.
Idling in Italy
Joseph Collins
We cannot bluff Providence, or short-circuit things to our liking.
The Wanderings of a Spiritualist
Arthur Conan Doyle

British Dictionary definitions for short-circuit

short circuit

noun

a faulty or accidental connection between two points of different potential in an electric circuit, bypassing the load and establishing a path of low resistance through which an excessive current can flow. It can cause damage to the components if the circuit is not protected by a fuse

verb short-circuit

to develop or cause to develop a short circuit
(tr) to bypass (a procedure, regulation, etc)
(tr) to hinder or frustrate (plans, etc)

Sometimes (for senses 1, 2) shortened to: short

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for short-circuit

short circuit

also short-circuit, 1854, in electricity, from short (adj.) + circuit (n.). As a verb, introduce a shunt of low resistance," from 1867; intransitive sense from 1902; in the figurative sense is recorded by 1899. Related: short-circuited; short-circuiting.

short-circuit in Science

short circuit

[shôrt]

An electrical path in a circuit that causes most of the current to flow around or away from some other path in the circuit. Accidental short circuits, especially between the high and low voltages of a power supply, can cause very strong current to flow, possibly damaging or overheating the circuit.

short-circuit in Culture

short circuit

An electrical circuit in which a path of very low resistance has been opened, usually accidentally. When the resistance drops, the electric current (see also current) in the circuit becomes very high and can cause damage to the circuit and start fires.