short of
Idioms-
Having an inadequate supply of, as in We're short of cash right now . [Late 1600s] Also see fall short of .
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Less than, inferior to, as in Nothing short of her best effort was needed to make the team . [Mid-1500s]
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Other than, without resorting to, as in Short of yelling, I had no other way of getting his attention .
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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.
However, Burrows stopped short of saying whether or not he would direct Nesbitt not to sign off on the move.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Retail sales dropped by 0.6% last month, the Commerce Department reported Friday, falling short of the 0.1% increase that economists had expected.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Even with $15,000 in charitable giving, their deductions fall short of the standard deduction, so they take it and their giving produces no tax benefit.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Taipei also accuses Beijing of using a range of "greyzone" methods -- tactics that fall short of an act of war -- including cyberattacks to harass the island.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
There was no way, short of crawling through the mud on our bellies, that we could approach the Wallace house unseen.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
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.
