What does short mean?
Definitions for short
ʃɔrtshort
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word short.
Princeton's WordNet
shortnoun
the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed
short circuit, shortnoun
accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference
shortstop, shortadjective
the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between second and third base
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"
shortadjective
(primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in length
"short skirts"; "short hair"; "the board was a foot short"; "a short toss"
short, littleadjective
low in stature; not tall
"he was short and stocky"; "short in stature"; "a short smokestack"; "a little man"
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"
unretentive, forgetful, shortadjective
(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range
"a short memory"
shortadjective
not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices
"a short sale"; "short in cotton"
shortadjective
of speech sounds or syllables of relatively short duration
"the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt' are short"
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"
short, shortsighted, unforesightful, myopicadjective
lacking foresight or scope
"a short view of the problem"; "shortsighted policies"; "shortsighted critics derided the plan"; "myopic thinking"
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"
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"
short-change, shortverb
cheat someone by not returning him enough money
short-circuit, shortadverb
create a short circuit in
abruptly, suddenly, short, deadadverb
quickly and without warning
"he stopped suddenly"
shortadverb
without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold
"he made his fortune by selling short just before the crash"
shortadverb
clean across
"the car's axle snapped short"
shortadverb
at some point or distance before a goal is reached
"he fell short of our expectations"
shortadverb
so as to interrupt
"She took him up short before he could continue"
short, unawaresadverb
at a disadvantage
"I was caught short"
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
shortnoun
A short circuit.
shortnoun
A short film.
shortnoun
shortstop
Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.
shortnoun
A short seller
The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.
shortnoun
A short sale
He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.
shortverb
To cause a short circuit in (something).
shortverb
Of an electrical circuit, to short circuit.
shortverb
To shortchange.
shortverb
To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.
This is the third time I've caught them shorting us.
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.
shortadverb
abruptly
They had to stop short to avoid hitting the dog in the street.
shortadverb
unawares
The recent developments at work caught them short.
shortadverb
briefly
The boss got a message and cut the meeting short.
shortadverb
curtly
He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.
shortadverb
without achieving a goal or requirement
His speech fell short of what was expected.
shortadverb
of a cricket ball, to bounce relatively far from the batsman so that it bounces higher than normal; opposite of full
shortadverb
With a negative ownership position.
We went short most finance companies in July.
shortadjective
Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
shortadjective
Of comparatively little height.
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.
shortadjective
Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).
u201CPhoneu201D is short for u201Ctelephoneu201D and "asap" short for "as soon as possible".
shortadjective
that bounced relatively far from the batsman
shortadjective
relatively close to the batsman
shortadjective
brittle (of pastry); see also shortening, shortcrust
shortadjective
missing, deficient
The cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.
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.
shortpreposition
Deficient in.
shortpreposition
Having a negative position in.
I don't want to be short the market going into the weekend.
Webster Dictionary
Short
not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight
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.]
Short
not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as, short breath
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.]
Short
limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water
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.]
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
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.]
Short
deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith
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.]
Short
not distant in time; near at hand
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.]
Short
limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory
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.]
Short
less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); -- with of
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.]
Short
abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question
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.]
Short
breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as, short pastry
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.]
Short
brittle
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.]
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
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.]
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
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.]
Shortnoun
a summary account
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.]
Shortnoun
the part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran
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.]
Shortnoun
short, inferior hemp
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.]
Shortnoun
breeches; shortclothes
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.]
Shortnoun
a short sound, syllable, or vowel
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.]
Shortadverb
in a short manner; briefly; limitedly; abruptly; quickly; as, to stop short in one's course; to turn short
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.]
Shortverb
to shorten
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.]
Shortverb
to fail; to decrease
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.]
Freebase
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
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
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
shortnoun
Vehicle. Often lowered.
shortadjective
Not enough. "I'm short $5."
Suggested Resources
short
Song lyrics by short -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by short on the Lyrics.com website.
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'short' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #543
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'short' in Written Corpus Frequency: #659
Adjectives Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'short' in Adjectives Frequency: #50
Anagrams for short »
thors
trosh
horst
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of short in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of short in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8
Examples of short in a Sentence
The administration has both announced policies that would reduce domestic oil demand over the long term, and asked OPEC to produce more oil in the short term, this shows how policymakers have to walk a fine line between keeping fossil fuel prices low and offering policy pathways on the energy transition.
Short-term, high intensity exercises need vigorous warm-up, but long-term endurance exercises do not.
It’s not worth it. Life is too short.
Craig said. The family made the sudden 1,000-mile trip from Tampa, Florida, to Dover Air Force Base to accept his body in person. Frank Gross with his father Craig; Frank was killed in 2011 by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan (Fox News) Toni said: That was such a dark time of our life. Although it was one of their lowest lows, there was support -- thanks to the Fisher House and the organization behind it. The Fisher Foundation helps military families around the country whose loved ones are in the hospital. In all, the non-profit has helped more than 300,000 families since 1990 by donating 58 houses across the country and in Germany and the United Kingdom. But the house at Dover Air Force Base was built specifically for families whose loved ones have made the ultimate sacrifice. Frank Gross with his mother Toni, who has been volunteering at Fisher House (Fox News) That, I think, was the most important Fisher House that we've ever built said Ken Fisher, Fisher House Foundation chairman and CEO. We believe in the power of family. We believe in, obviously, bringing the plight of the military family to light. This house is run by members of the Air Force — including house manager, technical sergeant Dorothy Whitfield. This house is their safe haven while they are here at Dover for their short stay, Whitfield said. The house has a fully stocked kitchen, multiple bedrooms, and a living room full of toys to make the family's hardest day somewhat easier. Whitfield said: If they're are sad and they want to cry, we're right there with them and we'll cry with them. Years after the Gross’ visit, the Fisher House is still making an impact on the family’s lives. Toni began volunteering. I just knew that I needed to give back and encourage others. I also knew that by giving back my spirit would be lifted.
History is the short trudge from Adam to atom.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for short
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- kortAfrikaans
- قصيرArabic
- qısaAzerbaijani
- ҡыҫҡа, тоҡорBashkir
- нізкі, кароткіBelarusian
- къс, кратък, съкратено, нисъкBulgarian
- কমBengali
- curt, baixCatalan, Valencian
- krátký, malý, zkratovat, zkrácený, zkratCzech
- byr, ber, byrionWelsh
- kortslutte, kort, lav, kortslutningDanish
- kurzschließen, kurz, kleinGerman
- κοντός, μικρόςGreek
- malalta, mallongaEsperanto
- bajo, corto, cortocircuitoSpanish
- lühike, lühistama, lühistuma, lühisEstonian
- کوتاهPersian
- lyhyt, shortata, mennä, oikosulku, oikosulkea, lyhyt muoto, lyhennys, myydäFinnish
- court, petit, bref, court-circuiterFrench
- gairid, beag, gearrIrish
- goirid, beagScottish Gaelic
- קצרHebrew
- नाटा, कमHindi
- rövid, alacsony, kurtaHungarian
- կոլոտ, ցածրահասակ, կարճ, կարճահասակ, կրճատArmenian
- breveInterlingua
- pendekIndonesian
- kurtaIdo
- stuttur, lágur, stuttvaxinn, lágvaxinnIcelandic
- corto, piccoloItalian
- 短い, 短絡, 低い, 小柄, 略語, ショートJapanese
- მოკლეGeorgian
- ខ្លីKhmer
- 짧다, 짧은Korean
- kurt, kurtîKurdish
- curtus, brevisLatin
- ສັ້ນLao
- trumpasLithuanian
- īssLatvian
- ускратува, краток, крати, кус, низок, кине, краток спојMacedonian
- намханMongolian
- pendek, singkatMalay
- တို, ပုBurmese
- kort, kleinDutch
- kortNorwegian
- krótkiPolish
- curto, breve, baixo, curto-circuitoPortuguese
- scund, scurt, mic de staturaRomanian
- закорачивать, закоротить, короткий, краткий, замыкать, замкнуть, низкий, невысокийRussian
- kratak, кратакSerbo-Croatian
- krátkySlovak
- majhna, kratek, majhenSlovene
- shkurtërAlbanian
- kortsluta, blanka, kort, förkortning, kortslutningSwedish
- fupiSwahili
- குறுகியTamil
- చిన్నTelugu
- สั้นThai
- kısaTurkish
- низький, короткийUkrainian
- مختصرUrdu
- 短, đoản, ngắnVietnamese
- brefikVolapük
- courtWalloon
- קורץYiddish
- 短Chinese
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