short (shôrt)
adj., short·er, short·est.

1. Having little length; not long.
2. Having little height; not tall.
3. Extending or traveling not far or not far enough: a short toss.
4. 1. Lasting a brief time: a short holiday.
   2. Appearing to pass quickly: finished the job in a few short months.
5. Not lengthy; succinct: short and to the point.
6. 1. Rudely brief; abrupt.
   2. Easily provoked; irascible.
7. Inadequate; insufficient: oil in short supply; were short on experience.
8. Lacking in length or amount: a board that is short two inches.
9. Lacking in breadth or scope: a short view of the problem.
10. Deficient in retentiveness: a short memory.
11. 1. Not owning the stocks or commodities one is selling in anticipation of a fall in prices.
    2. Of or relating to a short sale.
12. 1. Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky: a short pie crust.
    2. Not ductile; brittle: short iron.
13. 1. Linguistics. Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mălus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."
    2. Grammar. Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ă) in pat or (ʊ) in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.
14. 1. Unstressed; unaccented. Used of a syllable in accentual prosody.
    2. Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.
15. Slang. Close to the end of a tour of military duty.

adv., shorter, shortest.

1. Abruptly; quickly: stop short.
2. In a rude or curt manner.
3. At a point before a given boundary, limit, or goal: a missile that landed short of the target.
4. At a disadvantage: We were caught short by the sudden storm.
5. Without owning what one is selling: selling a commodity short.

n.

1. Something short, as:
   1. Linguistics. A short syllable, vowel, or consonant.
   2. A brief film; a short subject.
   3. A size of clothing less long than the average for that size.
   4. shorts Short trousers extending to the knee or above.
   5. shorts Men's undershorts.
2. 1. A short sale.
   2. One that sells short.
3. shorts A byproduct of wheat processing that consists of germ, bran, and coarse meal or flour.
4. shorts Clippings or trimmings that remain as byproducts in various manufacturing processes, often used to make an inferior variety of the product.
5. 1. A short circuit.
   2. A malfunction caused by a short circuit.
6. Baseball. A shortstop.

v., short·ed, short·ing, shorts.

v.tr.

1. To cause a short circuit in.
2. Informal. To give (one) less than one is entitled to; shortchange.
3. 1. To sell (a stock that one does not own) in anticipation of making a profit when its price falls; make a short sale.
   2. To sell unowned stock in (the stock market) in anticipation of making a profit when prices fall.

v.intr.
To short-circuit.

idioms:

for short

1. As an abbreviation: He's called Ed for short.

in short

1. In summary; briefly.

short for

1. An abbreviation of: Ed is short for Edward.

short of

1. Having an inadequate supply of: We're short of cash.
2. Less than: Nothing short of her best effort was required to make the team.
3. Other than; without resorting to: Short of yelling at him, I had no other way to catch his attention.
4. Not quite willing to undertake or do; just this side of: She stopped short of throwing out the old photo.

the short end of the stick

1. The worst side of an unequal deal.

[Middle English, from Old English sceort, scort.]

shortness short'ness n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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