English Explanatory Dictionary

short

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
  2. Of a person, living being, or object, having a comparatively small height.
  3. Having little duration.
  4. Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).
  5. Of a fielder or fielding position, that is relatively close to the batsman.
  6. Of a ball, bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.
  7. Of an approach shot or putt, that falls short of the green or the hole.
  8. Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.
  9. Of pastries or (metallurgy) of materials, brittle, crumbly.
  10. Abrupt, brief, pointed, curt.
  11. Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.
  12. Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.
adv
  1. Abruptly, curtly, briefly.
  2. Unawares.
  3. Without achieving a goal or requirement.
  4. Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.
  5. With a negative ownership position.
noun
  1. A short circuit.
  2. A short film.
  3. A short-form vertical video.
  4. A short version of a garment in a particular size.
  5. A shortstop.
  6. A short seller.
  7. A short sale or short position.
  8. A summary account.
  9. A short phone (such as a vowel) or syllable.
  10. An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.
  11. An automobile.
  12. Ellipsis of short bond paper.
verb
  1. To cause a short circuit in (something).
  2. To short circuit.
  3. To provide with an amount smaller than that agreed or labeled; to shortchange.
  4. To 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. To shorten.
prep
  1. Deficient in.
  2. Having a negative position in.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, United States.
  3. A census-designated place in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States.

Pronunciation

/ʃɔːt/ /ʃɔɹt/ [ʃɔɹʔ] shôrt LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-short.wav En-us-short.ogg En-au-short.ogg

Word forms

short shorter shortest shorts shorting shorted

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Germanic *skertaną Proto-Germanic *skurtaz Proto-West Germanic *skurt Old English sċort Middle English schort English short From Middle English schort, short, from Old English sċeort, sċort (“short”), from Proto-West Germanic *skurt, from Proto-Germanic *skurtaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-. Doublet of shirt, skirt, and curt. Cognates Cognate with Scots short, schort (“short”), French court, Dutch kort, German kurz, Old High German scurz (“short”) (whence Middle High German schurz), Old Norse skorta (“to lack”) (whence Danish skorte), Albanian shkurt (“short, brief”), Latin curtus (“shortened, incomplete”) and Proto-Slavic *kortъkъ. See more at shirt.

Synonyms

low scrimp short shortsome stubbed stubby stumpy vertically challenged narrow slim shallow little pint-sized petite titchy brief concise lacking

Antonyms

long tall high broad deep

Related words

heightism pipsqueak short man syndrome shortness shorty shorts

Derived words

a day late and a dollar short a few clowns short of a circus a few fries short of a Happy Meal a few spanners short of a tool box a fry short of a Happy Meal antishort a short drop and a sudden stop at short notice at short sight bib short boy-short bring up short castle short caught short cold short cold-short come short come up short cut short down to the short strokes draw the short straw Elliot's short-tailed shrew fall short few cards short of a full deck few sandwiches short of a picnic for short fry short of a Happy Meal go short gray short-tailed opossum greater short-toed lark have a short memory have someone by the short and curlies have someone by the short hairs hold short hot short hot-short in short in short order in short pants in short supply in short trousers in the short run in the short term Korean-style short ribs let one's short back and sides down life is short life is too short life's too short long and short stitch long run for a short slide long storey short long story short make short work of make the road shorter megashort nasty, brutish, and short nothing short of odd-come-short odd-cum-short one brick short of a full load
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