stop short

1. Also, stop one short . Check abruptly, as in When we tried to cross the street, the barrier stopped us short . [Early 1300s]

2. Cause someone to stop speaking, as in I was about to tell them the date when my father stopped me short . [Late 1800s]

3. stop short of . Not go so far as to do or say something. For example, He may embroider the truth but he stops short of actually lying . This usage was first recorded in 1818.

Example Sentences

While dating pigments and other elements to Malevich's lifetime, the reports stop short of claiming the works were painted by the artist.

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Neoliberal Democrats often serve such conservatives as convenient scapegoats because they, too, stop short of challenging capitalism’s relentless dissolution of civic-republican virtue.

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It will be enough to harm their opponent, especially their infrastructure assets, but stop short of being an attributable act of war.

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Oddly, some people still stop short of characterizing “Andor” as commentary on fascism, although parallels between the Empire and Adolf Hitler's Third Reich abound.

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The first minister will "call out" UK government welfare cuts in a speech on Tuesday but will stop short of demanding they be scrapped.

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Related Words

• abort 
• break off 
• curtail 
• halt 
• hinder 
• interrupt 
• postpone 
• quit 
• shorten 
• terminate