short (ʃɔːt
)
Definitions
adjective
- of little length; not long
- of little height; not tall
- of limited duration
- not meeting a requirement; deficient ⇒
the number of places laid at the table was short by four
- (postpositive; often foll by of or on) lacking (in) or needful (of) ⇒
I'm always short of money
- concise; succinct
- lacking in the power of retentiveness ⇒
a short memory
- abrupt to the point of rudeness ⇒
the salesgirl was very short with him
- finance
- not possessing the securities or commodities that have been sold under contract and therefore obliged to make a purchase before the delivery date
- of or relating to such sales, which depend on falling prices for profit
- phonetics
- denoting a vowel of relatively brief temporal duration
- classified as short, as distinguished from other vowels. Thus in English () in classified as short, as distinguished from other vowels. Thus in English () in bin, though of longer duration than () in classified as short, as distinguished from other vowels. Thus in English () in though of longer duration than () in beat, is nevertheless regarded as a short vowel
- (in popular usage) denoting the qualities of the five English vowels represented orthographically in the words (in popular usage) denoting the qualities of the five English vowels represented orthographically in the words pat, pet, pit, pot, put, and (in popular usage) denoting the qualities of the five English vowels represented orthographically in the words and putt
- prosody
- denoting a vowel that is phonetically short or a syllable containing such a vowel. In classical verse short vowels are followed by one consonant only or sometimes one consonant plus a following denoting a vowel that is phonetically short or a syllable containing such a vowel. In classical verse short vowels are followed by one consonant only or sometimes one consonant plus a following l or denoting a vowel that is phonetically short or a syllable containing such a vowel. In classical verse short vowels are followed by one consonant only or sometimes one consonant plus a following or r
- (of a vowel or syllable in verse that is not quantitative) not carrying emphasis or accent; unstressed
- (of pastry) crumbly in texture See also shortcrust pastry
- (of a drink of spirits) undiluted; neat
- (of betting odds) almost even
- See have someone by the short and curlies
- See in short supply
- See short and sweet
- See short for
adverb
- abruptly ⇒
to stop short
- briefly or concisely
- rudely or curtly
- finance without possessing the securities or commodities at the time of their contractual sale ⇒
to sell short
- See caught short
- See fall short
- See go short
- See short of
noun
- anything that is short
- a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer
- phonetics prosody a short vowel or syllable
- finance
- a short contract or sale
- a short seller
- a short film, usually of a factual nature
- See short circuit (sense 1)
- See for short
- See in short
verb
See also
shortsAlternative Forms
ˈshortness nounWord Origin
Old English scort; related to Old Norse skortr a lack, skera to cut, Old High German scurz shortSynonyms
View thesaurus entry=
concise,
brief,
succinct,
contracted,
clipped,
compact,
summary,
compressed,
curtailed,
terse,
laconic,
pithy,
abridged,
compendious,
sententious,
=
small,
little,
wee,
tiny,
squat,
diminutive,
petite,
pint-sized,
dumpy,
dwarfish,
knee high to a grasshopper
fubsy,
knee high to a gnat
=
abrupt,
sharp,
terse,
curt,
blunt,
crusty,
gruff,
brusque,
offhand,
testy,
impolite,
discourteous,
uncivil,
Translations
- British English:
short
If something is short, it does not last very long.Last year we all went to the seaside for a short holiday.ʃɔːt ADJECTIVE Last year we all went to the seaside for a short holiday.
- Spanish:
corto
adj corta
- French:
court
adj
- German:
kurz
adj
- Chinese: 短的 adj
- Arabic: قَصِير adj
- Portuguese: curto adj curta
- Russian: короткий adj короткая
- Croatian: kratak adj kratka
- Czech: krátký adj
- Danish: kort adj
- Dutch: kort adj
- Finnish: lyhyt adj
- Greek: κοντός adj κοντή
- Italian: breve adj
- Japanese: 短い adj
- Korean: 짧은 adj
- Norwegian: kort adj
- Polish: krótki adj krótka
- Brazilian Portuguese: curto adj curta
- European Spanish:
corto
adj corta
- Swedish: kort adj
- Thai: สั้น adj
- Turkish: kısa adj
- Vietnamese: ngắn adj
Usage examples
In short , she gave nobody a single excuse to fault her behaviour.
, TREASON KEEP (2001)Col Bill Clarke has written the two short chapters on the historical background.
Country Life (2004)The Little Black Rose One of his most beautiful short poems is The Little Black Rose.
Irish Times (2002)They said they would try to avoid compulsory redundancies where possible, but stopped short of an outright commitment.
Glasgow Herald (2001)He took up the art in the improbable circumstance of having been adjudged too short to be a rider in an equestrian circus.
, THE MEDICAL MYSTERIES E-OMNIBUS (2001)