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. a. Lasting a brief time: a short holiday.b. Appearing to pass quickly: finished the job in a few short months.5. Not lengthy; succinct: short and to the point.6. a. Rudely brief; abrupt: The owner was quite short with the new hire.b. Easily provoked; irascible: has a short temper.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. a. Holding a trading position that is inversely related to the price of a security or index: short investors; an investor who is short gold.b. Of or relating to a short sale: a short position.12. a. Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky: a short pie crust.b. Not ductile; brittle: short iron.13. a. Linguistics Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word m?lus, “evil,” as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word m?lus, “apple tree.”b. Grammar Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (?) in pat or (o?o) in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.14. 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. By means of a short sale: selling a commodity short.n.1. Something short, as:a. Linguistics A short syllable, vowel, or consonant.b. A brief film; a short subject.c. A size of clothing less long than the average for that size.d. shorts Short pants extending to the knee or above.e. shorts Undershorts.2. a. A short sale.b. 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. a. A short circuit.b. 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. To short-sell (a security or index).v.intr. To short-circuit.Idioms: for short As an abbreviation: He’s called Ed for short. in short In summary; briefly. short for An abbreviation of: Ed is short for Edward. short of1. 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 The worst side of an unequal deal.[Middle English, from Old English sceort, scort; see sker- in Indo-European roots.]short?ness n.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.short (???t) adj1. of little length; not long2. of little height; not tall3. of limited duration4. not meeting a requirement; deficient: the number of places laid at the table was short by four. 5. (postpositive; often foll by of or on) lacking (in) or needful (of): I’m always short of money. 6. concise; succinct7. lacking in the power of retentiveness: a short memory. 8. abrupt to the point of rudeness: the salesgirl was very short with him. 9. (Banking & Finance) finance a. not possessing the securities or commodities that have been sold under contract and therefore obliged to make a purchase before the delivery dateb. of or relating to such sales, which depend on falling prices for profit10. (Phonetics & Phonology) phonetics a. denoting a vowel of relatively brief temporal durationb. classified as short, as distinguished from other vowels. Thus in English (?) in bin, though of longer duration than (i?) in beat, is nevertheless regarded as a short vowelc. (in popular usage) denoting the qualities of the five English vowels represented orthographically in the words pat, pet, pit, pot, put, and putt11. (Poetry) prosody a. 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 rb. (of a vowel or syllable in verse that is not quantitative) not carrying emphasis or accent; unstressed12. (Cookery) (of pastry) crumbly in texture. See also shortcrust pastry13. (Brewing) (of a drink of spirits) undiluted; neat14. (Gambling, except Cards) (of betting odds) almost even15. have someone by the short and curlies informal to have (someone) completely in one’s power16. in short supply scarce17. short and sweet unexpectedly brief18. short for an abbreviation foradv19. abruptly: to stop short. 20. briefly or concisely21. rudely or curtly22. (Banking & Finance) finance without possessing the securities or commodities at the time of their contractual sale: to sell short. 23. caught short taken short having a sudden need to urinate or defecate24. fall short a. to prove inadequateb. (often foll by of) to fail to reach or measure up to (a standard)25. go short not to have a sufficient amount, etc26. short of except: nothing short of a miracle can save him now. n27. anything that is short28. (Brewing) a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer29. (Phonetics & Phonology) phonetics prosody a short vowel or syllable30. (Poetry) phonetics prosody a short vowel or syllable31. (Banking & Finance) finance a. a short contract or saleb. a short seller32. (Film) a short film, usually of a factual nature33. (Electronics) See short circuit134. for short informal as an abbreviation: he is called Jim for short. 35. in short a. as a summaryb. in a few wordsvb (Electronics) See short circuit2[Old English scort; related to Old Norse skortr a lack, skera to cut, Old High German scurz short] ?shortness nCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014short (??rt) adj. short?er, short?est, adv., n., v. adj. 1. having little length; not long. 2. having little height; not tall. 3. extending or reaching only a little way: a short path. 4. brief in duration; not extensive in time. 5. concise, as writing. 6. rudely brief; abrupt. 7. low in amount; scanty: short rations. 8. not reaching a mark, target, or the like. 9. not reaching a standard, required level, etc.; deficient: a short measure. 10. having an insufficient amount (often fol. by in or on): He was short in experience. 11. (of pastry) crisp and flaky from being made with a large proportion of butter or other shortening. 12. (of metals) deficient in tenacity; friable; brittle. 13. a. (of a speech sound) lasting a relatively short time. b. having the sound of the English vowels in bat, bet, bit, hot, but, and put, historically descended from vowels that were short in duration. Compare long 1 (def. 18). 14. a. (of a syllable in quantitative verse) lasting a relatively short time. b. unstressed. 15. (of an alcoholic drink) small. adv. 16. abruptly or suddenly: to stop short. 17. briefly; curtly. 18. on the near side of an intended or particular point: The arrow landed short. n. 19. something that is short. 20. the sum and substance of a matter; gist (usu. prec. by the). 21. a deficiency or the amount of a deficiency; shortage. 22. shorts, a. trousers, knee-length or shorter. b. short pants worn by men as underwear; drawers. c. knee breeches, formerly worn by men. d. remnants or refuse of various cutting and manufacturing processes. 23. a. a size of garments for persons who are shorter than average. b. a garment in this size. 24. Mil. a shot that strikes or bursts short of the target. 25. short circuit. 26. a short sound or syllable. 27. shortstop (def. 1). 28. short subject. v.t. 29. to short-circuit. 30. to shortchange. v.i. 31. to short-circuit. Idioms: 1. come or fall short, a. to fail to reach a particular standard. b. to prove insufficient; be lacking. 2. cut short, to end abruptly; interrupt or terminate. 3. for short, by way of abbreviation. 4. in short, a. in summary. b. in brief. 5. sell short, a. to sell stocks at a high price without actually possessing them, expecting to cover them later at a lower price and keeping the price difference as profit. b. to disparage or underestimate. 6. short for, being a shorter form of: ?Phone? is short for ?telephone.? 7. short of, a. less than; inferior to. b. inadequately supplied with. c. without going to the length of: Short of murder, they would have tried anything. [before 900; Old English sceort, c. Old High German scurz] short?ish, adj. short?ness, n. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.shortIn artillery and naval gunfire support, a spotting, or an observation, used by an observer to indicate that a burst(s) occurred short of the target in relation to the spotting line.Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.short – shortly – briefly1. ‘short’Short is an adjective. You usually use it to say that something does not last for a long time.Shortly is an adverb. If something is going to happen shortly, it is going to happen soon. This is a slightly old-fashioned use.If something happened shortly after something else, it happened soon after it.Don’t use ‘shortly’ to say that something lasts or is done for a short time. Don’t say, for example, ‘She told them shortly what had happened’. Use briefly.