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Synonyms

short time

American  

noun

  1. a period or schedule during which the number of working hours is reduced.

    The recession has put most of the manufacturing plants on short time.
short time British  

noun

  1. a system of working, usually for a temporary period, when employees are required to work and be paid for fewer than their normal hours per week due to a shortage of work

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • short-time adjective

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.

This new research, part of a large initiative funded by the InnerScience Research Fund, is the first to systematically measure the combined biological effects of multiple mind-body techniques delivered over a short time.

From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026

The girls’ mother has been battling Stage 4 brain cancer and is in hospice with only a short time left to live.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

In a relatively short time, she has seen prospective employers shift from competing for talent to sensing candidates’ desperation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

“Applying for and opening new credit accounts will tend to lower your credit scores, so avoiding multiple applications over a short time frame can prevent a cumulative negative effect,” says Experian.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 18, 2026

And besides, he only went for a short time.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

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.