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short - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'short' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Short [ adv.]
- 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.
- In a short manner; briefly; limitedly; abruptly; quickly; as, to stop short in one's course; to turn short.
2 . Short [ n.]
- A summary account.
- The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran.
- Short, inferior hemp.
- Breeches; shortclothes.
- A short sound, syllable, or vowel.
3 . Short [ superl.]
- Not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight.
- Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as, short breath.
- Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water.
- 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.
- Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith.
- Not distant in time; near at hand.
- Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory.
- Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); -- with of.
- Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question.
- Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as, short pastry.
- Brittle.
- 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.
4 . Short [ v. i.]
- To fail; to decrease.
5 . Short [ v. t.]
- To shorten.

Meaning of 'short' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . short [ a]
Meaning (1):
- low in stature; not tall
Example in sentence:
  • a little man;
  • a short smokestack;
  • he was short and stocky;
  • short in stature
Meaning (2):
- primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
Example in sentence:
  • a short flight;
  • a short holiday;
  • a short life;
  • a short story;
  • only a few short months
Meaning (3):
- (of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range
Example in sentence:
  • a short memory
Meaning (4):
- not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices
Example in sentence:
  • a short sale;
  • short in cotton
Meaning (5):
- (primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in length
Example in sentence:
  • a short toss;
  • short hair;
  • short skirts;
  • the board was a foot short
Meaning (6):
- of speech sounds or syllables of relatively short duration
Example in sentence:
  • the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt' are short
7 . short [ r]
Meaning (7):
- at some point or distance before a goal is reached
Example in sentence:
  • he fell short of our expectations
Meaning (8):
- without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold
Example in sentence:
  • he made his fortune by selling short just before the crash
Meaning (9):
- in a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner
Example in sentence:
  • he said shortly that he didn't like it;
  • he talked short with everyone;
  • he told me curtly to get on with it
Meaning (10):
- quickly and without warning
Example in sentence:
  • he stopped suddenly
Meaning (11):
- at a disadvantage
Example in sentence:
  • I was caught short
Meaning (12):
- so as to interrupt
Example in sentence:
  • She took him up short before he could continue
Meaning (13):
- clean across
Example in sentence:
  • the car's axle snapped short
14 . short [ s]
Meaning (14):
- marked by rude or peremptory shortness
Example in sentence:
  • a curt reply;
  • the salesgirl was very short with him;
  • try to cultivate a less brusque manner
Meaning (15):
- less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so
Example in sentence:
  • a light pound;
  • a scant cup of sugar;
  • regularly gives short weight
Meaning (16):
- of insufficient quantity to meet a need
Example in sentence:
  • a poor salary;
  • an inadequate income;
  • food is in short supply;
  • money is short;
  • on short rations;
  • short on experience;
  • the jejune diets of the very poor
Meaning (17):
- tending to crumble or break into flakes due to a large amount of shortening
Example in sentence:
  • a short flaky pie crust;
  • shortbread is a short crumbly cookie
Meaning (18):
- lacking foresight or scope
Example in sentence:
  • a short view of the problem;
  • myopic thinking;
  • shortsighted critics derided the plan;
  • shortsighted policies

Nearby Words:

shoad shoading shoal shoaled shoaliness shoaling shoaly shoar shoat shock

See 'short' also in:

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