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.
Open title for the career Grand Slam, had to rely heavily on his short game to salvage a 72.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2026
Fleetwood tuned up his short game with a hole-in-one which made the patrons roar, with American trio Justin Thomas, Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley also carding aces to dial up the entertainment factor.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
“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
And I am quite sure that the ladies, as a rule, do not take the pains they should about their putting and the short game generally.
From Fifty Years of Golf by Hutchinson, Horace G.
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.
