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

Noun Inflected Forms

• shortcuts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of shortcut

First recorded in 1560–70; short + cut

Example Sentences

“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

Liman denied Lively’s request for damages on the grounds that her lawyers used a legal shortcut, typically meant for calculating attorneys’ fees and minor court costs, to claim the money.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 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

In other words, it’s less a dip starter than a shortcut to onion-forward umami.

From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026

“Let’s go. I know a shortcut to the train station.”

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie