short

American  

[shawrt] / ʃɔrt /

adjective

shorter, comparative shortest superlative

1. having little length; not long.

2. having little height; not tall.

   a short man.

3. extending or reaching only a little way.

   a short path.

   Antonyms:

   long

4. brief in duration; not extensive in time.

   a short wait.

   Antonyms:

   long

5. brief or concise, as writing.

   Synonyms:

   condensed, laconic, succinct, terse

6. rudely brief; abrupt; brusque.

   short behavior.

   Synonyms:

   testy, sharp, curt

7. low in amount; scanty.

   short rations.

   Synonyms:

   lacking, wanting, inadequate, deficient, poor

8. not reaching a point, mark, target, or the like; not long enough or far enough.

9. below the standard in extent, quantity, duration, etc..

   short measure.

10. having a scanty or insufficient amount of (often followed by in oron ).

    He was short in experience.

11. being below a necessary or desired level; lacking.

    The office is short due to winter colds and flu.

12. Cooking.

    1. (of pastry and the like) crisp and flaky; breaking or crumbling readily from being made with a large proportion of butter or other shortening.

    2. (of dough) containing a relatively large amount of shortening.

    Synonyms:

    crumbly

13. (of metals) deficient in tenacity; friable; brittle.

14. (of the head or skull) of less than ordinary length from front to back.

    Synonyms:

    brachycephalic

15. Stock Exchange.

    1. not possessing at the time of sale commodities or stocks that one sells.

    2. noting or pertaining to a sale of commodities or stocks that the seller does not possess, depending for profit on a decline in prices.

       You can cover your short transactions by purchasing securities in the distribution at the reduced price.

16. Phonetics.

    1. lasting a relatively short time.

       “Bit” has a shorter vowel-sound than “bid” or “bead.”

    2. belonging to a class of sounds considered as usually shorter in duration than another class, as the vowel of but as compared to that of bought, and in many languages serving as a distinctive feature of phonemes, as the a in German Bann in contrast with the ah in Bahn, or the t in Italian fato in contrast with the tt in fatto (opposed to long).

    3. having the sound of the English vowels in bat, bet, bit, hot, but, and put, historically descended from vowels that were short in duration.

17. Prosody.

    1. (of a syllable in quantitative verse) lasting a relatively shorter time than a long syllable.

    2. unstressed.

18. (of an alcoholic drink) small.

    a short drink.

19. Chiefly British. (of whiskey) undiluted; straight.

20. Ceramics. (of clay) not plastic enough to be modeled.

21. Ropemaking. hard.

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adverb

1. abruptly or suddenly.

   to stop short.

2. briefly; curtly.

3. on the near side of an intended or particular point.

   The arrow landed short.

4. Baseball.

   1. with the hands higher on the handle of the bat than usual.

      He held the bat short and flied out.

   2. in a fielding position closer to home plate than usual.

noun

shorts plural

1. something that is short.

2. that which is deficient or lacking.

3. Usually the short the sum and substance of a matter; gist.

   Here's the short of it: they broke up two weeks before the wedding.

4. shorts,

   1. trousers, knee-length or shorter.

   2. short pants worn by men as an undergarment.

   3. knee breeches, formerly worn by men.

   4. Finance. short-term bonds.

   5. Mining. crushed ore failing to pass through a given screen, thus being of a larger given size than a specific grade.

   6. remnants, discards, or refuse of various cutting and manufacturing processes.

5. a size of garment for men who are shorter than average.

   He wears a 42 short.

6. a garment, as a suit or overcoat, in such a size.

7. Military. a shot that strikes or bursts short of the target.

8. Electricity. short circuit.

9. Prosody. a short sound or syllable.

10. Baseball. shortstop.

11. Movies. short subject.

12. Finance. short seller.

13. a deficiency or the amount of a deficiency.

14. Chiefly British. a small drink of straight whiskey; shot.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause a short circuit in.

2. to cheat by giving less than is expected or deserved; shortchange.

3. Stock Exchange. to sell (stocks, commodities, etc.) that one does not possess, with the intent of making a profit by purchasing them later at a lower price.

   He speculates on bubbles by shorting stocks that are overpriced, overhyped, and overdue for a slide.

verb (used without object)

1. to short-circuit.

idioms

1. short for, being a shorter form of; abbreviated to.

   “Phone” is short for “telephone.”

2. short and sweet. see short and sweet.

3. short of,

   1. less than; inferior to.

   2. inadequately supplied with (money, food, etc.).

   3. without going to the length of; failing of; excluding.

      Short of murder, there is nothing he wouldn't have tried to get what he wanted.

4. in short,

   1. in summary.

   2. in few words; in brief.

      In short, this has been rather a disappointing day.

5. cut short, to end abruptly; terminate.

   Her nap was cut short by a loud noise from outside.

6. run short, to be in insufficient supply.

   My patience is running short.

7. make short work of. work.

8. fall / come short,

   1. to fail to reach a particular standard.

   2. to prove insufficient; be lacking.

      Her funds fell short, and she had to wire home for help.

9. for short, by way of abbreviation.

   Her name is Patricia, and she's called Pat for short.

10. sell short,

    1. Stock Exchange. to sell stocks or the like without having them in one's actual possession at the time of the sale.

    2. to disparage or underestimate.

       Don't sell Tom short; he's really an excellent engineer.

short British  

/ ʃɔːt /

adjective

1. of little length; not long

2. of little height; not tall

3. of limited duration

4. not meeting a requirement; deficient

   the number of places laid at the table was short by four

5. (postpositive; often foll by of or on) lacking (in) or needful (of)

   I'm always short of money

6. concise; succinct

7. lacking in the power of retentiveness

   a short memory

8. abrupt to the point of rudeness

   the salesgirl was very short with him

9. finance

   1. not possessing the securities or commodities that have been sold under contract and therefore obliged to make a purchase before the delivery date

   2. of or relating to such sales, which depend on falling prices for profit

10. phonetics

    1. denoting a vowel of relatively brief temporal duration

    2. classified as short, as distinguished from other vowels. Thus in English ( ɪ ) in bin, though of longer duration than ( iː ) in beat, is nevertheless regarded as a short vowel

    3. (in popular usage) denoting the qualities of the five English vowels represented orthographically in the words pat, pet, pit, pot, put, and putt

11. prosody

    1. denoting a vowel that is phonetically short or a syllable containing such a vowel. In classical verse short vowels are followed by one consonant only or sometimes one consonant plus a following l or r

    2. (of a vowel or syllable in verse that is not quantitative) not carrying emphasis or accent; unstressed

12. (of pastry) crumbly in texture See also shortcrust pastry

13. (of a drink of spirits) undiluted; neat

14. (of betting odds) almost even

15. informal to have (someone) completely in one's power

16. scarce

17. unexpectedly brief

18. an abbreviation for

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adverb

1. abruptly

   to stop short

2. briefly or concisely

3. rudely or curtly

4. finance without possessing the securities or commodities at the time of their contractual sale

   to sell short

5. having a sudden need to urinate or defecate

6. 1. to prove inadequate

   2. (often foll by of) to fail to reach or measure up to (a standard)

7. not to have a sufficient amount, etc

8. except

   nothing short of a miracle can save him now

noun

1. anything that is short

2. a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer

3. phonetics prosody a short vowel or syllable

4. finance

   1. a short contract or sale

   2. a short seller

5. a short film, usually of a factual nature

6. See short circuit

7. informal as an abbreviation

   he is called Jim for short

8. 1. as a summary

   2. in a few words

verb

1. See short circuit

short More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing short

• by the short hairs
• caught short
• cut short
• fall short
• for short
• in brief (short)
• in short order
• in short supply
• in the long (short) run
• life is too short
• long (short) haul
• long and short of it
• make a long story short
• make short work of
• nothing short of
• run short
• sell short
• stop short

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Synonym Usage

Short, brief are opposed to long, and indicate slight extent or duration. Short may imply duration but is also applied to physical distance and certain purely spatial relations: a short journey. Brief refers especially to duration of time: brief intervals.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overshortness
  noun
• shortness
  noun
• overshort
  adjective
• unshort
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• shorts
  plural

Adjectives

• shorter
  comparative
• shortest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of short

First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective schort, Old English sceort; cognate with Old High German scurz “short,” Old Norse skortr “shortness, scarcity”

Explanation

Short describes something that is not as long as usual. If your childhood bed is too short for you, your feet will dangle over the edge, and if a school day is short, you'll get out early. The adjective short describes things that aren't long when you measure them, or have a small distance from one end to another, like your short hair or the short walk to the library. A small amount of time can also be described as short, like a short chat with your mom. As a verb, short can describe cheating someone out of money or not paying what is owed, like a friend who shorts you when the lunch bill arrives.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

short shorts shorter shortest

Once inside the park before 8 a.m., their first stop was the Bridalveil Fall Trail, a short trek that takes visitors right to the base of the thundering cascade.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

“Even if inflation was 2%, the 10-year bond should probably be at 4.5% — 4% to 4.5% — and the short rate should be at 3.3%,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

Regulators should have been careful given such products are "inherently high-risk because the compounding effect can wipe out an investor's entire principal over a short period," it said in a statement.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

The 14-day restraining order means Paramount will fall short on its hopes to have the deal closed before the end of the month.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

“Of all the insidious—” He was cut short by another stab of pain, this time in his paw.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

All the while, he and creative partner Cooper Tomlinson were trialling content online, mixing comedy sketches on TikTok and Instagram with horror shorts such as "The Chair" on their YouTube channel "That's a Bad Idea".

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

He was wearing a white tank top and orange shorts when he was found, the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

Chase finished his career at Columbia, where he continued to make his own shorts as well as work with now-neglected players such as Andy Clyde and Edgar Kennedy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

Hull said that surveillance footage showed Robinson's vehicle entering a campus parking garage, before a man wearing a maroon shirt, Converse shoes and grey or olive shorts was seen walking across campus.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Only steps from my grandparents’ picnic table, it was duck-hunting Ethan of my failed first-ever date, wearing basketball shorts and a shirt that read Chickasaw Pride.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Alan Scott, Legacy Effects’ co-founder, said 3-D printing has become central to the company’s survival in an industry where budgets are tighter and deadlines are shorter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026

The first enzyme cuts the long polymer chains at random points, reducing them into shorter sections.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026

But suggested changes to the program often include increases in the retirement age, again necessitating longer, not shorter, careers to maintain one’s benefits.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

But even the shorter forms of writing are losing their audience, with newspapers and magazines struggling to hold readers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

Until about fourteen, girls wore shorter dresses that showed their feet and ankles.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Men in Japan should "pitch in more at home" as their time spent doing chores is among the shortest in the world, the poster text read.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026

There is limited overlap between items produced by the automotive-parts supply chain and the weapons components in shortest supply.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

"A process is underway... to approve all pending applications in the shortest time possible."

From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026

The researchers addressed this by using the shortest path in their geometric model of color perception rather than relying on a simple straight line.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 7, 2026

She looked like a kid, a head shorter than the shortest of the men standing around her.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

Related Words

• abbreviated
• brief
• crisp
• precise
• shortened
• terse