Vocabulary     

What does short mean?

Definitions for short
ʃɔrtshort

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word short.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. shortnoun

    the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed

  2. short circuit, shortnoun

    accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference

  3. shortstop, shortadjective

    the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between second and third base

  4. shortadjective

    primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration

    "a short life"; "a short flight"; "a short holiday"; "a short story"; "only a few short months"

  5. shortadjective

    (primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in length

    "short skirts"; "short hair"; "the board was a foot short"; "a short toss"

  6. short, littleadjective

    low in stature; not tall

    "he was short and stocky"; "short in stature"; "a short smokestack"; "a little man"

  7. inadequate, poor, shortadjective

    not sufficient to meet a need

    "an inadequate income"; "a poor salary"; "money is short"; "on short rations"; "food is in short supply"; "short on experience"

  8. unretentive, forgetful, shortadjective

    (of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range

    "a short memory"

  9. shortadjective

    not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices

    "a short sale"; "short in cotton"

  10. shortadjective

    of speech sounds or syllables of relatively short duration

    "the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt' are short"

  11. light, scant(p), shortadjective

    less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so

    "a light pound"; "a scant cup of sugar"; "regularly gives short weight"

  12. short, shortsighted, unforesightful, myopicadjective

    lacking foresight or scope

    "a short view of the problem"; "shortsighted policies"; "shortsighted critics derided the plan"; "myopic thinking"

  13. shortadjective

    tending to crumble or break into flakes due to a large amount of shortening

    "shortbread is a short crumbly cookie"; "a short flaky pie crust"

  14. brusque, brusk, curt, short(p)verb

    marked by rude or peremptory shortness

    "try to cultivate a less brusque manner"; "a curt reply"; "the salesgirl was very short with him"

  15. short-change, shortverb

    cheat someone by not returning him enough money

  16. short-circuit, shortadverb

    create a short circuit in

  17. abruptly, suddenly, short, deadadverb

    quickly and without warning

    "he stopped suddenly"

  18. shortadverb

    without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold

    "he made his fortune by selling short just before the crash"

  19. shortadverb

    clean across

    "the car's axle snapped short"

  20. shortadverb

    at some point or distance before a goal is reached

    "he fell short of our expectations"

  21. shortadverb

    so as to interrupt

    "She took him up short before he could continue"

  22. short, unawaresadverb

    at a disadvantage

    "I was caught short"

  23. curtly, short, shortlyadverb

    in a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner

    "he told me curtly to get on with it"; "he talked short with everyone"; "he said shortly that he didn't like it"

Wiktionary

  1. shortnoun

    A short circuit.

  2. shortnoun

    A short film.

  3. shortnoun

    shortstop

    Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.

  4. shortnoun

    A short seller

    The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.

  5. shortnoun

    A short sale

    He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.

  6. shortverb

    To cause a short circuit in (something).

  7. shortverb

    Of an electrical circuit, to short circuit.

  8. shortverb

    To shortchange.

  9. shortverb

    To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.

    This is the third time I've caught them shorting us.

  10. shortverb

    To sell something, especially securities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; to sell short.

  11. shortadverb

    abruptly

    They had to stop short to avoid hitting the dog in the street.

  12. shortadverb

    unawares

    The recent developments at work caught them short.

  13. shortadverb

    briefly

    The boss got a message and cut the meeting short.

  14. shortadverb

    curtly

    He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.

  15. shortadverb

    without achieving a goal or requirement

    His speech fell short of what was expected.

  16. shortadverb

    of a cricket ball, to bounce relatively far from the batsman so that it bounces higher than normal; opposite of full

  17. shortadverb

    With a negative ownership position.

    We went short most finance companies in July.

  18. shortadjective

    Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

  19. shortadjective

    Of comparatively little height.

  20. shortadjective

    Having little duration; opposite of long.

    Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it's been at least twenty minutes long.

  21. shortadjective

    Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).

    Phone is short for telephone and "asap" short for "as soon as possible".

  22. shortadjective

    that bounced relatively far from the batsman

  23. shortadjective

    relatively close to the batsman

  24. shortadjective

    brittle (of pastry); see also shortening, shortcrust

  25. shortadjective

    missing, deficient

    The cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.

  26. shortadjective

    Any financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.

    I'm short General Motors because I think their sales are plunging.

  27. shortpreposition

    Deficient in.

  28. shortpreposition

    Having a negative position in.

    I don't want to be short the market going into the weekend.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. SHORTadjective

    Etymology: sceort , Saxon.

    Weak though I am of limb, and short of sight,
    Far from a lynx, and not a giant quite,
    I’ll do what Mead and Cheselden advise,
    To keep these limbs, and to preserve these eyes. Alexander Pope.

    This less voluble earth,
    By shorter flight to the east, had left him there. John Milton.

    Though short my stature, yet my name extends
    To heaven itself, and earth’s remotest ends. Alexander Pope.

    They change the night into day: the light is short, because of darkness. Job xvii. 12.

    Nor love thy life, nor hate, but what thou liv’st,
    Live well, how long or short permit to heav’n. John Milton.

    Short were her marriage joys: for in the prime
    Of youth her lord expir’d before his time. Dryden.

    Her breath then short, seem’d loth for home to pass,
    Which more it mov’d, the more it sweeter was. Philip Sidney.

    Thy breath comes short, thy darted eyes are fixt
    On me for aid, as if thou wert pursu’d. Dryden.

    My breath grew short my beating heart sprung upward,
    And leap’d and bounded in my heaving bosom. Smith.

    Immoderate praises, the foolish lover thinks short of his mistress, though they reach far beyond the heavens. Philip Sidney.

    Some cottons here grow, but short in worth unto those of Smyrna. George Sandys.

    The Turks give you a quantity rather exceeding than short of your expectation. George Sandys.

    Since higher I fall short, on him who next
    Provokes my envy. John Milton.

    I know them not; not therefore am I short
    Of knowing what I ought. John Milton, Paradise Reg.

    To attain
    The height and depth of thy eternal ways,
    All human thoughts come short, supreme of things. John Milton.

    O glorious trial of exceeding love,
    Engaging me to emulate! but short
    Of thy perfection, how shall I attain. John Milton.

    To place her in Olympus’ top a guest,
    Among th’ immortals, who with nectar feast;
    That poor would seem, that entertainment short
    Of the true splendor of her present court. Edmund Waller.

    We err, and come short of science, because we are so frequently misled by the evil conduct of our imaginations. Joseph Glanvill.

    That great wit has fallen short in his account. More.

    As in many things the knowledge of philosophers was short of the truth, so almost in all things their practice fell short of their knowledge: the principles by which they walked were as much below those by which they judged, as their feet were below their head. Robert South, Sermons.

    He wills not death should terminate their strife;
    And wounds, if wounds ensue, be short of life. Dryden.

    Virgil exceeds Theocritus in regularity and brevity, and falls short of him in nothing but simplicity and propriety of style. Alexander Pope.

    Where reason came short, revelation discovered on which side the truth lay. John Locke.

    Defect in our behaviour, coming short of the utmost gracefulness, often escapes our observation. John Locke.

    If speculative maxims have not an actual universal assent from all mankind, practical principles come short of an universal reception. John Locke.

    Men express their universal ideas by signs; a faculty which beasts come short in. John Locke.

    The people fall short of those who border upon them, in strength of understanding. Addison.

    A neutral indifference falls short of that obligation they lie under, who have taken such oaths. Addison.

    When I made these, an artist undertook to imitate it; but using another way of polishing them, he fell much short of what I had attained to, as I afterwards understood. Newton.

    It is not credible that the Phœnicians, who had established colonies in the Persian gulph, stopt short, without pushing their trade to the Indies. Arbuthnot.

    Doing is expresly commanded, and no happiness allowed to any thing short of it. Robert South, Sermons.

    The signification of words will be allowed to fall much short of the knowledge of things. Thomas Baker.

    He commanded those, who were appointed to attend him, to be ready by a short day. Edward Hyde.

    The English were inferior in number, and grew short in their provisions. John Hayward.

    They short of succours, and in deep despair,
    Shook at the dismal prospect of the war. Dryden.

    So soon as ever they were gotten out of the hearing of the cock, the lion turned short upon him, and tore him to pieces. Roger L'Estrange.

    He seiz’d the helm, his fellows cheer’d,
    Turn’d short upon the shelves, and madly steer’d. Dryden.

    For turning short, he struck with all his might
    Full on the helmet of th’ unwary knight. Dryden.

    As one condemn’d to leap a precipice,
    Who sees before his eyes the depth below,
    Stops short. Dryden.

    When the fleece is shorn,
    When their defenceless limbs the brambles tear,
    Short of their wool, and naked from the sheer. Dryden.

    Men of wit and parts, but of short thoughts and little meditation, are apt to distrust every thing for a fancy. Burnet.

    They, since their own short understandings reach
    No farther than the present, think ev’n the wise
    Like them disclose the secrets of their breasts. Nicholas Rowe.

    His flesh is not firm, but short and tasteless. Izaak Walton.

    Marl from Derbyshire was very fat, though it had so great a quantity of sand, that it was so short, that, if you wet it, you could not work it into a ball, or make it hold together. John Mortimer, Husbandry.

    The lance broke short, the beast then bellow’d loud,
    And his strong neck to a new onset bow’d. Dryden.

  2. Shortadverb

    It is, I think, only used in composition. Not long.

    Beauty and youth,
    And sprightly hope and short-enduring joy. Dryden.

    One strange draught prescribed by Hippocrates, for a short-breathed man, is half a gallon of hydromel, with a little vinegar. Arbuthnot.

  3. Shortnoun

    A summary account.

    Etymology: from the adjective.

    The short and long is our play is prefer’d. William Shakespeare.

    In short, she makes a man of him at sixteen, and a boy all his life after. Roger L'Estrange.

    If he meet with no reply, you may conclude that I trust to the goodness of my cause: the short on’t is, ’tis indifferent to your humble servant whatever your party says. Dryden.

    From Medway’s pleasing stream
    To Severn’s roar be thine:
    In short, restore my love, and share my kingdom. Dryden.

    The proprieties and delicacies of the English are known to few: ’tis impossible even for a good wit to understand and practise them, without the help of a liberal education and long reading; in short, without wearing off the rust which he contracted while he was laying in a stock of learning. Dryden.

    The short is, to speak all in a word, the possibility of being found in a salvable state cannot be sufficiently secured, without a possibility of always persevering in it. John Norris.

    To see whole bodies of men breaking a constitution; in short, to be encompassed with the greatest dangers from without, to be torn by many virulent factions within, then to be secure and senseless, are the most likely symptoms, in a state, of sickness unto death. Jonathan Swift.

ChatGPT

  1. short

    Short typically refers to something that is not long in length, duration, or height. It is the opposite of long, indicating smaller or lesser. The term "short" can be applied to various contexts, such as describing a brief period of time, a concise piece of writing, a brief movie or play, or a person of smaller stature.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Short

    not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight

  2. Short

    not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as, short breath

  3. Short

    limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water

  4. Short

    insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking; not coming up to a resonable, or the ordinary, standard; -- usually with of; as, to be short of money

  5. Short

    deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith

  6. Short

    not distant in time; near at hand

  7. Short

    limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory

  8. Short

    less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); -- with of

  9. Short

    abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question

  10. Short

    breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as, short pastry

  11. Short

    brittle

  12. Short

    engaging or engaged to deliver what is not possessed; as, short contracts; to be short of stock. See The shorts, under Short, n., and To sell short, under Short, adv

  13. Shortadverb

    not prolonged, or relatively less prolonged, in utterance; -- opposed to long, and applied to vowels or to syllables. In English, the long and short of the same letter are not, in most cases, the long and short of the same sound; thus, the i in ill is the short sound, not of i in isle, but of ee in eel, and the e in pet is the short sound of a in pate, etc. See Quantity, and Guide to Pronunciation, //22, 30

  14. Shortnoun

    a summary account

  15. Shortnoun

    the part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran

  16. Shortnoun

    short, inferior hemp

  17. Shortnoun

    breeches; shortclothes

  18. Shortnoun

    a short sound, syllable, or vowel

  19. Shortadverb

    in a short manner; briefly; limitedly; abruptly; quickly; as, to stop short in one's course; to turn short

  20. Shortverb

    to shorten

  21. Shortverb

    to fail; to decrease

  22. Etymology: [OE. short, schort, AS. scort, sceort; akin to OHG. scurz, Icel. skorta to be short of, to lack, and perhaps to E. shear, v. t. Cf. Shirt.]

Wikidata

  1. Short

    Short is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southern regions of the Moon, on the near side. It lies just to the south of the larger, prominent crater Moretus, and northeast of Newton. This crater lies across an older crater designated Short B. Only the eroded southeastern section of the rim of Short B still survives. There is a cluster of small craters attached to the outer rim within the attached Short B. Short itself is an eroded formation with a somewhat uneven outer rim. The inner wall is more narrow to the southeast and wider elsewhere. Several tiny craterlets lie along the rim edge, as well as the inner wall and floor. At the midpoint of the interior floor of Short is a low central rise. A small crater lies along the northeast edge of this hill.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Short

    short, adj. (comp. Short′er, superl. Short′est) not long in time or space: not tall: near at hand, early in date: scanty, lacking, insufficient: in error, deficient in wisdom, grasp, memory, &c.: narrow: abrupt, curt, sharp, uncivil: brittle, crumbling away readily: not prolonged in utterance, unaccented: (coll.) undiluted with water, neat: falling below a certain standard (with of): of stocks, &c., not having in possession when selling, not able to meet one's engagements, pertaining to short stocks or to those who have sold short.—adv. not long.—n. a summary account: a short time or syllable: whatever is deficient in number, quantity, &c.: a short sale, one who has made such: (pl.) small clothes, knee-breeches: the bran and coarse part of meal, in mixture.—ns. Short′age, deficiency; Short′-allow′ance, less than the regular allowance; Short′-and, the character '&,' the ampersand.—adj. Short′-armed, having short arms, not reaching far.—ns. Short′-bill, one having less than ten days to run; Short′-cake, a rich tea-cake made short and crisp with butter or lard and baked—also Short′-bread (Scot.): (U.S.) a light cake, prepared in layers with fruit between, served with cream; Short′-cir′cuit (electr.), a path of comparatively low resistance between two points of a circuit.—n.pl. Short′-clothes, small clothes, the dress of young children after the first long clothes.—v.t. Short′-coat, to dress in short-coats.—n.pl. Short′-coats, the shortened skirts of a child when the first long clothes are left off.—n. Short′coming, act of coming or falling short of produce or result: neglect of, or failure in, duty.—n.pl. Short′-comm′ons (see Common).—n. Short′-cross, the short cross-bar of a printer's chase.—adjs. Short′-cut, cut short instead of in long shreds—of tobacco, &c.—also n.; Short′-dāt′ed, having short or little time to run from its date, as a bill.—n. Short′-divi′sion, a method of division with a divisor not larger than 12—opp. to Long-division.—v.t. Short′en, to make short: to deprive: to make friable.—v.i. to become short or shorter: to contract.—n. Short′-gown, a loose jacket with a skirt, worn by women, a bed-gown.—adj. Short′-grassed (Shak.), provided or covered with short grass.—n. Short′hand, an art by which writing is made shorter and easier, so as to keep pace with speaking.—adj. Short′-hand′ed, not having the proper number of servants, work-people, &c.—ns. Short′hander, a stenographer; Short′-horn, one of a breed of cattle having very short horns—Durham and Teeswater.—adj. Short′-horned.—n. Short′-hose, the stockings of the Highland dress, reaching to the knee, as opposed to the long hose formerly worn by Englishmen.—adjs. Short′-joint′ed, short between the joints: having a short pastern; Short′-legged (Shak.), having short legs; Short′-lived, living or lasting only for a short time.—adv. Short′ly, in a short time: in a brief manner: quickly: soon.—ns. Short′-mē′tre (see Metre); Short′ness; Short′-pull, a light impression on a hand-press; Short′-rib, one of the lower ribs, not reaching to the breast-bone, a false or floating rib.—adj. Short′-sight′ed, having sight extending but a short distance: unable to see far: of weak intellect: heedless.—adv. Short′-sight′edly.—n. Short′-sight′edness.—adjs. Short′-spō′ken, sharp and curt in speech; Short′-stā′ple, having the fibre short.—n. Short′-stop, the player at base-ball between the second and third base.—adjs. Short′-tem′pered, easily put into a rage; Short′-wind′ed, affected with shortness of wind or breath; Short′-wit′ted, having little wit, judgment, or intellect.—At short sight, meaning that a bill is payable soon after being presented; Be taken short (coll.), to be suddenly seized with a desire to evacuate fæces; Come, Cut, Fall, short (see Come, Cut, Fall); In short, in a few words; Make short work of, to settle some difficulty or opposition promptly; Take up short, to check or to answer curtly; The long and short, the whole. [A.S. sceort; Old High Ger. scurz; the Dut. and Sw. kort, Ger. kurz, are borrowed from L. curtus.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms

  1. short

    "Heave short," means to heave in the cable till it is nearly up and down, and would hold the vessel securely until she had set all common sail, and would not drag or upset the anchor. If, however, the wind be free, and the making sail unimportant, short would probably be short apeek, or up and down, the last move of weighing awaiting perhaps signal or permission to part.

Rap Dictionary

  1. shortnoun

    Vehicle. Often lowered.

  2. shortadjective

    Not enough. "I'm short $5."

Suggested Resources

  1. short

    Song lyrics by short -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by short on the Lyrics.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. SHORT

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Short is ranked #581 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Short surname appeared 57,477 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 19 would have the surname Short.

    84.1% or 48,350 total occurrences were White.
    10.2% or 5,886 total occurrences were Black.
    2.1% or 1,253 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    2% or 1,155 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    0.8% or 494 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    0.5% or 339 total occurrences were Asian.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'short' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #543

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'short' in Written Corpus Frequency: #659

  3. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'short' in Adjectives Frequency: #50

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

Anagrams for short »

  1. horst

  2. trosh

  3. thors

How to pronounce short?

How to say short in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of short in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of short in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of short in a Sentence

  1. Shigemitsu Tsuruta:

    The market has started to price in this prospect while the current level provides a good short-term rebound opportunity.

  2. Junichi Ishikawa:

    Our index based on sentiment currently shows that 62 percent of global retail clients favour going long on dollar/yen while 38 percent prefer going short, last week's dollar/yen plunge was such that it was natural for some to instinctively buy the dollar.

  3. Benjamin Johnson:

    It is not growing like a tree in bulk doth make man better be Or standing long an oak, three hundred year, To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere, A lily of a day is fairer in May Although it fall and die that night, It was the plant of flower and light, In small proportions we just beauties see And in short measures, life may perfect be.

  4. Scott Faber:

    In the short run, there are a list of fruits and vegetables that consumers should avoid or when possible choose organic again because even low levels of exposure have been linked to neurological problems in children, if Scott Faber can buy organic, that's great, but a lot of people can't, and we encourage parents to feed their kids fruits and vegetables, because it's healthy and reduces obesity, all that. But in the end, they're providing toxins to their kids that could hurt them.

  5. Lewis Hamilton:

    I did it just because I can, i am very much in an experimental phase in my life, experimenting with lots of things. The hair color is short term. When I first saw it... it kind of frightened me a little bit.

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Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for short

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