short game
Americannoun
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the aspect of golf considered in relation to the ability of a player to hit medium or short shots, as chip shots, pitch shots, and putts, with accuracy.
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a card game in which not all cards in the pack are dealt before play.
Etymology
Origin of short game
An Americanism dating back to 1850–55
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“You need to play a long game, not this short game that has been so detrimental,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026
“It’s all part of the game — the long game, the short game, the medium game.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2025
From tee to green he was always not as precise, however, and that continued on Friday as his short game helped keep him ahead of the chasing pack.
From BBC • Apr. 11, 2025
It seems as if he’s putting a lot of work into his short game.
From Slate • Aug. 17, 2024
Fortunately, neither was armed—except with the weapons which nature had provided—and a short game of “fisticuffs”—in which Casey had decidedly the advantage—served as a ’scape valve for the ebullition of their anger.
From The Guerilla Chief And other Tales by Reid, Mayne
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.