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• short order
  short order

  noun

  a dish or serving of food that is quickly prepared upon request at a lunch counter.
• short-order
  short-order

  adjective

  of, relating to, or specializing in short orders.

short order

¹ American  

noun

1. a dish or serving of food that is quickly prepared upon request at a lunch counter.

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short-order ² American  

[shawrt-awr-der] / ˈʃɔrtˌɔr dər /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or specializing in short orders.

   a short-order cook; short-order diner.

2. performed or supplied quickly.

   They obtained a short-order divorce decree.

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short order British  

noun

1. 1. food that is easily and quickly prepared

   2. ( as modifier )

      short-order counter

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short order Idioms  

1. Quickly; see in short order .

2. An order of food to be prepared and served quickly, as in It's just a diner, serving short orders exclusively . This expression, dating from about 1890, gave rise to the adjective short-order , used not only in short-order cook , a cook specializing in short orders, but in other terms such as short-order divorce , a divorce quickly obtained owing to liberal divorce laws.

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Etymology

Origin of short order¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Origin of short-order²

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

short order short-order

If the economy stays sluggish or gets worse and inflation falls, those could look like good deals in short order.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

The RSI has fallen from above the overbought 70 level into the 30s in short order.

From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026

In short order, she finds, “the hum had returned.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

"And I think it'll be done in short order."

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026

In short order, the Salomon Brothers trading floor gave birth to small markets in bonds funded by all sorts of strange stuff: credit card receivables, aircraft leases, auto loans, health club dues.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Guests can build their own plates, and I don’t have to spend the evening playing short-order cook.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

In 1966, Duncan was working as a short-order cook at the Sahara, making 400 salads an hour, when she slipped on spilled grease, severely injuring her shoulder, hip and back.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

At the time, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology grad still lived with his parents — a Mexican-born housekeeper and a short-order cook — in Pacoima.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2025

Before succeeding as an actor, he told interviewers, he had worked as a mechanic, a dance instructor and a short-order cook.

From New York Times ● May 28, 2023

When Alaska asked her what she did for work, she smiled and said, “I’m a culnary engineeyer. That’s a short-order cook at the Waffle House to y’all.”

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green