Meanings
plural short payments
- accountingA payment that is less than the full amount owed; an underpayment resulting from error, adjustment, or deduction.
At times, a short payment may simply be the result of human error. This is particularly true for customers who manually process their accounts payable. A simple keystroke mistake or typo could result in the payment amount being wrong.
2023 December 15, Shaun Jex, “How to Handle Short Payments”, in QuadientSynonyms: underpayment
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA payment that is less than the full amount owed; an underpayment resulting from error, adjustment, or deduction.
Origin
From short + payment, patterned after financial terms such as underpayment and shortfall.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
short payment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short%20payment
“short payment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short%20payment. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “short payment,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short%20payment.
Source: short payment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.