short

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.

   “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.”

3. Having little duration.

   “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, […]”

   “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.”

   “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.”

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

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

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.

   “shortbread”

   “hot short”

   “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.)”

10. Abrupt, brief, pointed, curt.

    “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! […]””

    “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[…].”

11. Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.

    “a short supply of provisions”

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

    “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.”

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

    “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.”

14. (colloquial)Undiluted; neat.

    ““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 […]”

    “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."”

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

    “Marinell was sore offended / That his departure thence should be so short.”

    “He commanded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready by a short day.”

    “But, alas! he who escapes from death is not pardoned; he is only reprieved, and reprieved to a short day.”

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

    “short position”

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

17. (broadly)Doubtful of, skeptical of.
18. (dated)Of money, given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.

    “He pulled a cheque-book from his pocket, and drew for two hundred thousand pounds. “I'll take it short,” he said […]”

adv

1. (not-comparable)Abruptly, curtly, briefly.

   “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.”

2. (not-comparable)Unawares.

   “The recent developments at work caught them short.”

   “We were caught short by the sudden hailstorm.”

3. (not-comparable)Without achieving a goal or requirement.

   “His speech fell short of what was expected.”

4. (not-comparable)Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.
5. (not-comparable)With a negative ownership position.

   “We went short most finance companies in July.”

noun

1. A short circuit.

   “The circuit breaker keeps tripping because there's a short in the wiring.”

2. A short film.

   “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.”

3. (Internet)A short film.
4. A short version of a garment in a particular size.

   “38 short suits fit me right off the rack.”

   “Do you have that size in a short?”

5. A shortstop.

   “Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.”

6. A short seller.

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

7. A short sale or short position.

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

   “The company’s stock is one of the largest shorts in the market, meaning many investors are betting it could fall even farther.”

8. A summary account.

   “For the short and the long is, our play is preferred.”

9. A short phone (such as a vowel) or syllable.

   “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.”

10. An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.
11. (US, slang)An automobile.

    “crack shorts”

    “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.”

    “[…] 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.) […]”

12. (Philippines, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis)Ellipsis of short bond paper.

verb

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

   “You should short the poles of the capacitor to discharge it before you work on it.”

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

   “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.”

4. (transitive)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. (obsolete)To shorten.

prep

1. Deficient in.

   “We are short a few men on the second shift.”

   “He's short common sense.”

2. Having a negative position in.

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

name

1. A surname.

   “Tigers manager A.J. Hinch had just inserted Zack Short to pinch-hit for Akil Baddoo, the type of chess-match move Hinch is making more than ever this season.”

2. An unincorporated community in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, United States.
3. A census-designated place in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States.