short of
Idioms-
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.
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.
They have spurred some types of construction, including a boom of tiny homes called accessory dwelling units in California, but they have still left those states short of needed supply.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
But even as Warsh continuously emphasizes the link between money growth and inflation, he stops short of advocating for Friedman’s preferred policy of fixed, stable money growth.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
The Chargers’ last game was a playoff loss to Vrabel’s Patriots, so nothing short of an edict from the NFL probably would have stopped the franchise’s social media team from referencing the Vrabel-Russini controversy.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
McInnes said his team needed a siege mentality to deal with... well, he stopped short of spelling it out but you caught his drift.
From BBC • May 14, 2026
That meant she was twenty points short of Adam’s score.
From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon
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.
