"stop short" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "stops short",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stopping short",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stopped short",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stopped short",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "stop short (third-person singular simple present stops short, present participle stopping short, simple past and past participle stopped short)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "47 6 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 9 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "47 4 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:",
          "text": "He had only taken a step forward into the room when he again stopped short to exclaim.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To come to a sudden and unexpected stop, particularly while speaking or driving a vehicle."
      ],
      "id": "en-stop_short-en-verb-3~Fe~pLa",
      "links": [
        [
          "sudden",
          "sudden"
        ],
        [
          "unexpected",
          "unexpected"
        ],
        [
          "speaking",
          "speaking"
        ],
        [
          "driving",
          "driving"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "47 18 35",
          "word": "short stop"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 1:",
          "text": "Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 December 15, Jack Royston, “Prince Harry throws more accusations at Prince William than ever before”, in Newsweek:",
          "text": "He stopped short of saying the story was true but accused the palace of lying when they \"squashed\" it.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To voluntarily cease an attempt to reach a certain point."
      ],
      "id": "en-stop_short-en-verb-QfL4ob1w",
      "links": [
        [
          "of",
          "of#English"
        ],
        [
          "voluntarily",
          "voluntarily"
        ],
        [
          "cease",
          "cease"
        ],
        [
          "attempt",
          "attempt"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(usually with of) To voluntarily cease an attempt to reach a certain point."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "hold back"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "usually",
        "with-of"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "47 6 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 9 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "47 4 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2020 December 30, Tim Dunn, “The railway's mechanical marvels”, in Rail, page 58, photo caption:",
          "text": "Thirteen people were injured in August 1957 when this Bristol freighter skidded on the runway at Southend Airport when landing with a flight from Calais. It ploughed through the boundary fence, but thankfully stopped short of the railway and the 1,500V overhead wires. A tripwire was installed on this section of Shenfield-Southend line to warn train drivers of instances such as this.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To come to a stop before reaching a certain point."
      ],
      "id": "en-stop_short-en-verb-FoUpp95N",
      "links": [
        [
          "of",
          "of#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(with of) To come to a stop before reaching a certain point."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "with-of"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "stop short"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "stops short",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stopping short",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stopped short",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stopped short",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "stop short (third-person singular simple present stops short, present participle stopping short, simple past and past participle stopped short)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "short stop"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:",
          "text": "He had only taken a step forward into the room when he again stopped short to exclaim.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To come to a sudden and unexpected stop, particularly while speaking or driving a vehicle."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sudden",
          "sudden"
        ],
        [
          "unexpected",
          "unexpected"
        ],
        [
          "speaking",
          "speaking"
        ],
        [
          "driving",
          "driving"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 1:",
          "text": "Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 December 15, Jack Royston, “Prince Harry throws more accusations at Prince William than ever before”, in Newsweek:",
          "text": "He stopped short of saying the story was true but accused the palace of lying when they \"squashed\" it.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To voluntarily cease an attempt to reach a certain point."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "of",
          "of#English"
        ],
        [
          "voluntarily",
          "voluntarily"
        ],
        [
          "cease",
          "cease"
        ],
        [
          "attempt",
          "attempt"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(usually with of) To voluntarily cease an attempt to reach a certain point."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "hold back"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "usually",
        "with-of"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2020 December 30, Tim Dunn, “The railway's mechanical marvels”, in Rail, page 58, photo caption:",
          "text": "Thirteen people were injured in August 1957 when this Bristol freighter skidded on the runway at Southend Airport when landing with a flight from Calais. It ploughed through the boundary fence, but thankfully stopped short of the railway and the 1,500V overhead wires. A tripwire was installed on this section of Shenfield-Southend line to warn train drivers of instances such as this.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To come to a stop before reaching a certain point."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "of",
          "of#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(with of) To come to a stop before reaching a certain point."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "with-of"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "stop short"
}