1
a
: having little length
b
: not tall or high : low
2
a
: not extended in time : brief
a short vacation
b
: not retentive
a short memory
c
: expeditious, quick
made short work of the problem
d
: seeming to pass quickly
made great progress in just a few short years
3
a
of a speech sound
: having a relatively short duration
b
: being the member of a pair of similarly spelled vowel or vowel-containing sounds that is descended from a vowel that was short in duration but is no longer so and that does not necessarily have duration as its chief distinguishing feature
short i in sin
c
of a syllable in prosody
(1)
: of relatively brief duration
(2)
4
: limited in distance
a short trip
5
a
: not coming up to a measure or requirement : insufficient
in short supply
b
: not reaching far enough
the throw to first was short
c
: enduring privation
d
: insufficiently supplied
short of breath
short of cash
short on brains
7
8
: payable at an early date
a short loan
9
a
: containing or cooked with shortening
b
of metal
: brittle under certain conditions
10
a
: not lengthy or drawn out
a short speech
b
: made briefer : abbreviated
11
a
: not having goods or property that one has sold in anticipation of a fall in prices
b
: consisting of, relating to, or engaging in the sale of securities or commodities that the seller does not possess or has not contracted for at the time of the sale
short sale
a short seller
12
: near the end of a tour of duty
1
: in a curt manner
2
: for or during a brief time
short-lasting
3
: at a disadvantage : unawares
caught short
4
: in an abrupt manner : suddenly
the car stopped short
5
: at some point or degree before a goal or limit aimed at or under consideration
the bombs fell short
quit a month short of graduation
6
: clean across
the axle was snapped short
7
: by or as if by a short sale
1
: the sum and substance : upshot
2
a
: a short syllable
b
: a short sound or signal
3
shorts plural
a
: a by-product of wheat milling that includes the germ, fine bran, and some flour
b
: refuse, clippings, or trimmings discarded in various manufacturing processes
4
a
: knee-length or less than knee-length trousers
—usually used in plural
b
shorts plural
: short drawers
c
: a size in clothing for short men
5
a
: one who operates on the short side of the market
b
shorts plural
: short-term bonds
6
7
8
9
a
b
: a brief story or article (as in a newspaper)
shorted; shorting; shorts
1
transitive + intransitive
: short-circuit
The electrical system also received upgrades: Most rooms had only three or fewer outlets, and plugging in multiple devices usually shorted the circuit.—
Steven Wyman-Blackburn
—often used with out in U.S. EnglishSteven Wyman-Blackburn… microscopic particles of airborne dust are large enough to short out the chip's circuitry.—Michael Rothschild
Michael Rothschild… were sabotaging the system by deliberately entering incorrect information into the computers and, if all else failed, hosing the computers down until they shorted out.—John Sedgwick
John Sedgwick2
transitive
informal
: shortchange, cheat
When she returned minutes later, she handed me a twenty-dollar bill and a five. No change and no receipt, which meant I couldn't call her on the fact that she'd shorted Henry by sixty-six cents.—Sue Grafton
Sue Grafton3
transitive
finance
: to sell (a security) short in expectation of a fall in prices
a heavily shorted stock
Today [in 2003], only two per cent of all United States stock-market shares are shorted, and even with looser restrictions short selling is likely to remain uncommon.—James Surowiecki
James SurowieckiExamples of short in a Sentence
Adjective
One of my legs is slightly shorter than the other.
He is short for his age.
the shortest day of the year
Life's too short to worry about the past.
The movie was very short.
You have done a lot in a short space of time.
a short burst of speed
I've only lived here for a short time.
She has made great progress in a few short years.
He visited for two short weeks.
Adverb
He threw the ball short.
the bicyclist ahead of me unexpectedly pulled up short and I unavoidably plowed into him
Noun
The short before the main movie was very funny.
Verb
The lightning shorted the TV.
The hair dryer must have shorted.
Recent Examples on the Web
Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 28 May 2025
The Chiefs will host a media availability Thursday, with a short practice viewing window for which The Star will be in attendance.
—Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 28 May 2025
Tom Sanderson, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
Mike Wright, now at East Carolina, just wants a chance to play after coming up short at Northwestern, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
—Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 29 May 2025
Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 18 May 2025
Mendonça crams the film with vivid time-capsule details: vintage American cars and vinyl records, token-hungry phone booths and old-school printing presses, obscenely tight shorts and sweltering heat.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 18 May 2025
Jacob Wolinsky, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs suggested shorting the Australian dollar and buying Japanese Yen as an effective hedge against declining dollar assets.
—Ganesh Rao, CNBC, 27 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for short
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Adjective
Each of them plays like a standalone vignette that could make a short film, and as with a short film program made up of multiple stories, some are stronger than others.
—Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 28 May 2025
The Chiefs will host a media availability Thursday, with a short practice viewing window for which The Star will be in attendance.
—Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 28 May 2025
Adverb
That campaign saw Barca finish up as a treble-winning domestic champion which didn’t really need Rashford to achieve its goals save for falling short to Inter Milan in the Champions League semifinals.
—Tom Sanderson, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
Mike Wright, now at East Carolina, just wants a chance to play after coming up short at Northwestern, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
—Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 29 May 2025
Noun
Levi’s Mid-Length Shorts Nothing says summer in the South like a pair of denim shorts.
—Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 18 May 2025
Mendonça crams the film with vivid time-capsule details: vintage American cars and vinyl records, token-hungry phone booths and old-school printing presses, obscenely tight shorts and sweltering heat.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 18 May 2025
Verb
Short sellers as the market’s watchdogs Despite the international bans on shorting securities, Grego and Moses agree that the benefits of the practice outweigh the risks.
—Jacob Wolinsky, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs suggested shorting the Australian dollar and buying Japanese Yen as an effective hedge against declining dollar assets.
—Ganesh Rao, CNBC, 27 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for short
Cite this Entry
“Short.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/short. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
short
1 of 4 adjective1
: having little length or height : not long or tall
2
a
: not long in time : brief
a short delay
b
: not great in distance
a short walk
3
: not remembering for long
a short memory
4
: of, relating to, or being one of the vowel sounds \ə, a, e, i, u̇\ and sometimes \ä\ and \ȯ\
5
a
: not coming up to the regular standard or to what is needed
gave short measure
in short supply
b
: not reaching far enough
the throw was short
c
: not having enough
short of cash
6
: easily upset
has a short temper
7
8
: cut down to a brief length
a short tax form
"doc" is short for "doctor"
short
2 of 4 adverb1
: with suddenness
stopped short
2
: so as not to reach as far as expected
fell short of the mark
short
3 of 4 noun1
: a short signal or sound (as in Morse Code)
2
plural
a
: pants that reach to the knees or not as far as the knees
b
: short underpants
3
short
4 of 4 verbLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
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