short

comparative shorter · superlative shortest

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

   Synonyms: low, narrow, slim, shallow · Antonyms: long, tall, high, broad, deep

2. Of a person, living being, or object, having a comparatively small height.

   1 more example

   Nhung Ngo had the shortest legs at Site-43. She was the shortest member of staff, two inches beneath the positively elfin Delfina Ibanez, and yet Lillian found her inexplicably difficult to shake. Power-walking down the halls didn't do the trick, as it always did when Wettle-dodging, since the diminutive headshrink kept disappearing into commissaries or service corridors or even other people's offices and emerging, smiling, in front of her.

   2022 September 22, HarryBlank, “Mind Over Matter”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 23 May 2024

   Synonyms: little, pint-sized, petite, titchy · Antonyms: tall

3. Having little duration.

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

   3 more examples

   The results of this generalized speedup of the corporate metabolism are multiple: shorter product life cycles, more leasing and renting, more frequent buying and selling, more ephemeral consumption patterns, […]

   1980, Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave, page 230

   Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.

   2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2013, page 172

   Having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is associated with a shorter life expectancy and a greater risk of mental health issues, according to a new study of more than 30,000 people with the disorder in the United Kingdom.

   2025 January 23, Kristen Rogers, “People with ADHD have shorter life expectancy and higher risk of mental health issues, study finds”, in CNN

   Synonyms: brief, concise · Antonyms: long

4. 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".

5. ball gamesOf a fielder or fielding position, that is relatively close to the batsman.

   Antonyms: long

6. ball gamesOf a ball, bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.
7. golfOf an approach shot or putt, that falls short of the green or the hole.
8. gamblingOf betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.
9. bakingOf pastries or (metallurgy) of materials, brittle, crumbly.

   hot short

   2 more examples

   shortbread

   I chose to interpret the references to butter and sugar as indicating that a short pastry was required. (Later editions suggest a biscuit-like texture.)

   2013, Heston Blumenthal, Historic Heston, →ISBN, page 122

10. Abrupt, brief, pointed, curt.

    He gave a short answer to the question.

    2 more examples

    “We are short to-night!” cries the woman, with a propitiatory laugh. “Short and snappish we are! […]”

    1870 April–September, Charles Dickens, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1870, →OCLC

    The reason I was a tad short with Start, Leeper and Burnsome was my fear they, with their education, experience and degrees, would see what I had denied for all these years[…].

    2014, Charles E. Schwarz, Murder at the Table of Fools

11. Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.

    a short supply of provisions

12. Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.

    to be short of money

    2 more examples

    I'd lend you the cash but I'm a little short at present.

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

13. Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.

    an account which is short of the truth

    1 more example

    […]the people are worn down with taxes, and hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse them again to war.

    1829, Walter Savage Landor, “The Emperor Alexander and Capo D'Istria”, in Imaginary Conversations, volume IV

14. colloquialUndiluted; neat.

    Delance raised his beer and watched Hoadly throw down another swig of hard stuff. "Take it short if you want to make it over the mountain tonight."

    2003, Linda Chaikin, Desert Rose

    1 more example

    “There ain’t no drain of nothing short handy, is there?” said the Chicken, generally. “This here sluicing night is hard lines to a man as lives on his condition.” Captain Cuttle proffered a glass of rum […]

    1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC

15. obsoleteNot distant in time; near at hand.

    Marinell was sore offended / That his departure thence should be so short.

    1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 18

    2 more examples

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

    1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater

    But, alas! he who escapes from death is not pardoned; he is only reprieved, and reprieved to a short day.

    1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume I, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC

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

    short position

    1 more example

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

    Antonyms: long

17. broadlyDoubtful of, skeptical of.
18. datedbusinessOf money, given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.

    He pulled a cheque-book from his pocket, and drew for two hundred thousand pounds. “I'll take it short,” he said […]

    1909, James Blyth, The member for Easterby, page 296

    Antonyms: long

1. not comparableAbruptly, curtly, briefly.

   He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.

   2 more examples

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

   The boss got a message and cut the meeting short.

2. not comparableUnawares.

   We were caught short by the sudden hailstorm.

   1 more example

   The recent developments at work caught them short.

3. not comparableWithout achieving a goal or requirement.

   His speech fell short of what was expected.

4. not comparableball gamesRelatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.
5. not comparablebusinessWith a negative ownership position.

   We went short most finance companies in July.

plural shorts

1. A short circuit.

   The circuit breaker keeps tripping because there's a short in the wiring.

2. A short film.

   Preceded by a Simpsons short shot in 3-D—perhaps the only thing more superfluous than a fourth Ice Age movie—Ice Age: Continental Drift finds a retinue of vaguely contemporaneous animals coping with life in the post-Pangaea age.

   2012 July 12, Sam Adams, AV Club, Ice Age: Continental Drift, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2012

   1. InternetA short-form vertical video.
   2. InternetbroadlyA vertical video of any length.

      long short

3. A short version of a garment in a particular size.

   Do you have that size in a short?

   1 more example

   38 short suits fit me right off the rack.

4. ball gamesA shortstop.

   Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.

5. businessA short seller.

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

6. businessA short sale or short position.

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

   1 more example

   The company’s stock is one of the largest shorts in the market, meaning many investors are betting it could fall even farther.

   2025 August 25, Julie Creswell, “Krispy Kreme Bets on Big-Box Stores to Stay Fresh”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC

7. A summary account.

   For the short and the long is, our play is preferred.

   c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]

8. human sciencesA short phone (such as a vowel) or syllable.

   If we compare the nearest conventional shorts and longs in English, as in ‘bit’ and ‘beat’, ‘not’ and ‘naught’, we find that the short vowels are generally wide (i, ɔ), the long narrow (i, ɔ), besides being generally diphthongic as well.

   1877, Henry Sweet, A Handbook of Phonetics, page 18

9. computingAn integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.
10. USslangAn automobile.

    crack shorts

    to break into automobiles

    2 more examples

    For example, one addict would crack shorts (break and enter cars) and usually obtain just enough stolen goods to buy stuff and get off just before getting sick.

    1975, Mary Sanches, Ben G. Blount, Sociocultural Dimensions of Language Use, page 47

    […] list of all crimes reported by these 61 daily criminals during their years on the street is: theft (this includes shoplifting; "cracking shorts", burglary and other forms of stealing), dealing, forgery, gambling, confidence games (flim-flam, etc.) […]

    1982, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice, Career Criminal Life Sentence Act of 1981: Hearings, page 87

11. PhilippinesabbreviationellipsisEllipsis of short bond paper.

present singular third person shorts · participle present shorting · participle past shorted · past shorted

1. transitiveTo cause a short circuit in (something).

   You should short the poles of the capacitor to discharge it before you work on it.

2. intransitiveTo short circuit.
3. informaltransitiveTo provide with an amount smaller than that agreed or labeled; to shortchange.

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

   1 more example

   It's hard now. The NEA, state and city budgets are messed up and it's the small artists like us that are the ones getting shorted.

   1991 August 24, Maridee BonaDea, quoting Brian Freeman, “Pomo Afro Homos On The Road”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 6, page 9

4. transitivebusinessTo 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.
5. obsoleteTo shorten.

1. Deficient in.

   He's short common sense.

   1 more example

   We are short a few men on the second shift.

   Synonyms: lacking

2. businessHaving a negative position in.

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

1. A surname.

   Tigers manager A.J. Hinch had just inserted Zack Short to pinch-hit for Akil Baddoo, the type of chess-match move Hinch is making more than ever this season.

   2023 May 26, Cody Stavenhagen, “A.J. Hinch is managing with confidence as the Tigers hang tight in the AL Central”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2025

2. An unincorporated community in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, United States.
3. A census-designated place in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States.