short-handed
[shawrt-han-did]
- not having the usual or necessary number of workers, helpers, etc.
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Origin of short-handed
First recorded in 1615–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for short-handed
Contemporary Examples
That stuff can sometimes be short-handed to "white," but at the speaker's peril.
And because the immigration inspector rejected Kahtani, United Airlines Flight 93 was short-handed on 9/11.
Historical Examples
The Sterling was short-handed this passage, mustering but four hands in a watch.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
They're short-handed anyhow and a fellow likes to help what he can.
We were too short-handed ourselves to spare a single soldier.
Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie in 1860-'61Abner Doubleday
“We are short-handed enough as it is,” he told me, when he joined us on the poop.
The Mutiny of the ElsinoreJack London
When a ship has an insufficient complement, or is short-handed.
The Sailor's Word-BookWilliam Henry Smyth
short-handed
- lacking the usual or necessary number of assistants, workers, etc
- sport, US and Canadian with less than the full complement of players
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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