short

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

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 2024-05-23:

(of a person) Of comparatively small height.

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

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, 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:

"Phone" is short for "telephone" and "asap" short for "as soon as possible".

(followed by for) Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).

(cricket, of a fielder or fielding position) that is relatively close to the batsman.

that is relatively close to the batsman.

(cricket, of a ball) bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.

(golf, of an approach shot or putt) that falls short of the green or the hole.

that falls short of the green or the hole.

(gambling) Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.

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:

(baking, of pastries; metallurgy) Brittle, crumbly. (See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust, shortening, hot short, cold-short.)

He gave a short answer to the question.

“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:

a short supply of provisions

Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.

to be short of money

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.

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

an account which is short of the truth

[…]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:

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

“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:

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."

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:

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, published 1707, →OCLC:

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:

(obsolete) Not distant in time; near at hand.

Coordinate term: long

short position

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

(finance) Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.

(by extension) Doubtful of, skeptical of.

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:

(finance, dated) Of money: given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.

en-adj

short (comparative shorter, superlative shortest)

shorter (comparative)
shortest (superlative)

little

of a person, of comparatively little height

tall

antonym(s) of “having a small distance between ends or edges”

tall

antonym(s) of “of a person, of comparatively little height”

long

antonym(s) of “cricket, of a fielder or fielding position, relatively close to the batsman”

long

antonym(s) of “financial position expecting falling value”

አጭር

of a person, of comparatively small height

կրճատ

constituting an abbreviation or shortened form

lyhyt

golf: falling short of the green or the hole

niukka

limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty

vajaa

insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking

vajaa

deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard

lyhyt

being in a financial investment position to profit of falling prices

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 curt.
Cognates
Cognate with shirt, skirt, curt, 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. Doublet of curt. More at shirt.


short

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

He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.

The boss got a message and cut the meeting short.

The recent developments at work caught them short.

His speech fell short of what was expected.

Without achieving a goal or requirement.

(cricket, of the manner of bounce of a cricket ball) Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.

We went short most finance companies in July.

(finance) With a negative ownership position.

lyhyt

finance: with a negative ownership position


short

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:

A short film.
A short-form vertical video.

A YouTube video that is less than one minute long.

38 short suits fit me right off the rack.

Do you have that size in a short?

A short version of a garment in a particular size.

Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.

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

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

(finance) A short sale or short position.

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]:

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:

(phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

(programming) An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.

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:

(US, slang) An automobile; especially in crack shorts (“to break into automobiles”).

→ Cantonese: short

→ Italian: short

→ Japanese: ショート (shōto)

→ Mandarin: 秀逗 (xiùdou)

→ Hakka: 秀逗 (sió-tò)

→ Maltese: xort

lyhyt äänne

phonetics: short sound, syllable, or vowel


short

(transitive) To cause a short circuit in (something).

(intransitive, of an electrical circuit) To short circuit.

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

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:

(transitive, informal) To provide with an amount smaller than that agreed or labeled; to shortchange.

(transitive, business) 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.

en-verb

short (third-person singular simple present shorts, present participle shorting, simple past and past participle shorted)

shorts (present singular third-person)
shorting (participle present)
shorted (participle past)
shorted (past)

→ Maltese: xxortja

megrövidít

to provide with smaller than agreed quantity

myydä lyhyeksi

business: to sell something one does not own at the moment


short

We are short a few men on the second shift.

He's short common sense.

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

(finance) Having a negative position in.