shortcut

American  

[shawrt-kuht] / ˈʃɔrtˌkʌt /

noun

shortcuts plural

1. a shorter or quicker way.

2. a method, procedure, policy, etc., that reduces the time or energy needed to accomplish something.

3. Computers.

   1. a link to a software application, file, or website, usually represented as a graphical icon that can be clicked on to quickly access or open it.

      You can create a desktop shortcut to a web page you've visited.

   2. Also called keyboard shortcut.  hotkey.

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adjective

1. constituting or providing a shorter or quicker way.

   shortcut methods.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• shortcutting
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• shortcuts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of shortcut

First recorded in 1560–70; short + cut

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shortcut shortcuts

Plus, well-off boomers are upsizing, not downsizing—and a shortcut to private-equity riches is minting young millionaires.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Anthony travelled back across London, arrived at East Finchley, and turned into the narrow footpath beside the railway line - a shortcut towards home.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

“We think we’ve found a little bit of a shortcut here,” Beck said, noting the combined company will be vertically integrated, able to design, build, launch and operate its own satellites.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

"It's basically a shortcut," explains Adrian Bayer a cosmologist at the Flatiron Institute and Princeton University, co-author of the study.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026

Makes me wonder if that’s why Quinton always warned me about taking a shortcut through the creepy junkyard down the street from our apartment.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

If there are any lessons for Hollywood to learn from “Obsession,” it’s to not take shortcuts to the prize you’re longing for.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Experts, however, advise moderation — saying that regular old water and a balanced diet generally suffice against a backdrop of wellness shortcuts and health hacks.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026

Even as the pace has sharply accelerated, Tori Shivanandan, President and COO of Radiant Nuclear, does not want regulatory shortcuts.

From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026

It treats historical analogies not as rhetorical shortcuts but as evidentiary claims that must withstand scrutiny.

From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2026

I had sense enough not to take no shortcuts and stuck to the road so’s I could at least see the hoop snake hunting party if I ran up on it.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis