short list

or short·list

See more synonyms for short list on Thesaurus.com

noun

a list of those people or items preferred or most likely to be chosen, as winnowed from a longer list of possibilities.

Origin of short list

First recorded in 1925–30

short-list

[shawrt-list]

verb (used with object)

to put on a short list.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for shortlist

shortlist

Examples from the Web for shortlist

Contemporary Examples of shortlist

The Washington Post also mentioned Lynch and former Associate Attorney General Tony West as candidates on the shortlist.
Obama's No-Win Attorney General Decision
Tim Mak
October 10, 2014
One example is a design recently named to the shortlist for the 2014 World Architecture Festival awards.
Why Architects Dream Big—and Crazy
Nate Berg
August 23, 2014
Last week, The Past failed to make the shortlist for the Academy Award for best foreign film, which A Separation won in 2012.
The New Auteur of Iran: Asghar Farhadi Reinvents Domestic Drama With ‘The Past’
Jimmy So
December 26, 2013
The new pontiff gets the nod over a shortlist that included Edward Snowden, Ted Cruz and Bashar al-Assad.
Pope Francis Is Time’s Man of The Year
Barbie Latza Nadeau
December 11, 2013
And last week both Reuters and Business Insider ran articles suggesting that Ferguson was on the shortlist.
Roger Ferguson Is Wall Street’s Fantasy for Federal Reserve Chairman
Daniel Gross
September 24, 2013

British Dictionary definitions for shortlist

short list

noun

a list of suitable applicants for a job, post, etc, from which the successful candidate will be selected

verb short-list (tr)

to put (someone) on a short list

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

Word Origin and History for shortlist

"to place (someone) on the 'short list' " for advancement or preferment, 1955, from short list (n.) in this sense, which is attested by 1927.