short
short [short shorts shorted shorting shorter shortest] adjective, adverb, noun, verb BrE [ʃɔːt] NAmE [ʃɔːrt]
adjective (short·er, short·est)
LENGTH/DISTANCE
1. measuring or covering a small length or distance, or a smaller length or distance than usual
• He had short curly hair.
•a short walk
•a short skirt
Opp: ↑long
HEIGHT
2. (of a person)small in height
• She was short and dumpy.
Opp: ↑tall
TIME
3. lasting or taking a small amount of time or less time than usual
• I'm going to France for a short break.
• Which is the shortest day of the year?
•a short book (= taking a short time to read, because it does not have many pages)
•She has a very short memory (= remembers only things that have happened recently).
• (informal)Life's too short to sit around moping.
•It was all over in a relatively short space of time.
Opp: ↑long
4. only before noun (of a period of time)seeming to have passed very quickly
•Just two short years ago he was the best player in the country.
Opp: ↑long
NOT ENOUGH
5. not before noun ~ (of sth) not having enough of sth; lacking sth
• I'm afraid I'm a little short (= of money) this month.
• She is not short of excuses when things go wrong.
6. ~ on sth (informal)lacking or not having enough of a particular quality
•He was a big strapping guy but short on brains.
7. not before noun not easily available; not supplying as much as you need
• Money was short at that time.
8. not before noun ~ (of sth) less than the number, amount or distance mentioned or needed
• Her last throw was only three centimetres short of the world record.
• The team was five players short.
•She was just short of her 90th birthday when she died.
OF BREATH
9. ~ of breath having difficulty breathing, for example because of illness
•a fat man, always short of breath
NAME/WORD
10. ~ for sth being a shorter form of a name or word
• Call me Jo— it's short for Joanna.
•file transfer protocol or FTP for short
RUDE
11. not before noun ~ (with sb) (of a person)speaking to sb using few words in a way that seems rude
• I'm sorry I was short with you earlier— I had other things on my mind.
VOWEL
12. (phonetics)a short vowel is pronounced for a shorter time than other vowels
•Compare the short vowel in ‘full’ and the long vowel in ‘fool’.
Opp: ↑long
see also ↑shortly
more at draw the short straw at ↑draw v., life's too short at ↑life n., cut/make a long story short at ↑long adj., full/short measure at ↑measure n., at short notice at ↑notice n., in the long/short/medium term at ↑term n., (as) thick as two short planks at ↑thick adj.
Word Origin:
Old English sceort, of Germanic origin; related to ↑shirt and ↑skirt.
Thesaurus:
short adj.
1.
•He was a short, fat little man.
•She ran as fast as her short legs would carry her.
stubby • • stunted • |formal diminutive • |approving petite • |disapproving dumpy •
Opp: tall, Opp: long
a short/diminutive/petite/dumpy woman/figure
a short/diminutive man
short/stubby fingers
2.
•Professor Ogawa gave a short talk on solar eclipses.
temporary • • short-lived • • passing • |especially written brief • • fleeting • • momentary •
Opp: long
a short/brief/passing moment
a short/temporary/brief stay
a short/brief/momentary silence/pause
Short or brief? Short is used more in informal and spoken English. Short, but not brief, is used to describe books, lists, projects, etc. that take only a short time. Brief is used more to describe a look, glance, glimpse, smile or sigh.
3. not before noun
•When food was short they picked berries in the woods.
scarce • • in short supply • • low • • limited • • few and far between •
Opp: plentiful
resources are short/scarce/in short supply/low/limited
food is short/scarce/in short supply
time is short/limited
Which word? Short is used especially about time and money. Scarce and in short supply are used about resources that are not generally available. Low is used especially about your supplies when you have not got much left.
4.
•She kept her answers short.
brief • • concise • • economical • • abbreviated • |approving succinct • • pithy • |sometimes disapproving terse • |usually disapproving curt • • brusque •
Opp: long
a/an short/brief/concise/abbreviated/succint/terse account
a short/brief/concise/succint/terse summary/answer/statement
Short or brief? A mention is usually brief; an answer is more likely to be short. Brief is used about speech:
•Please be brief.
✗ Please be short.
Example Bank:
•His performance was woefully short of conviction.
•If space is really short, that door can be moved.
•It was all over in a relatively short space of time.
•Mike was a bit short of cash just then.
•Our team was one player short.
•Safe drinking water is in desperately short supply.
•Sorry I was a bit short with you earlier.
•The days are getting shorter and shorter.
•The interview was mercifully short.
•The working week is getting shorter and shorter.
•United looked woefully short of menace in attack.
•We're getting short of funds.
•a relatively short distance of 50 to 100 miles
•a young woman whose life was cut tragically short
•Call me Jo— it's short for Joanna.
•He felt his time was running short.
•He was a short, fat little man.
•He was too short to be admitted into the army.
•I'm going to France next week for a short break.
•I'm slightly shorter than you.
•I've only read the shorter version of the report.
•It's quite a short book.
•Just two short years ago he was the best player in the country.
•Life's too short to sit around moping.
•Money was pretty short at that time.
•She has a very short memory.
•Sheila waved her short stubby arms in the air.
•The little boy ran as fast as his short legs could carry him.
•The short answer to your query is that he has acted completely illegally.
•Try to keep your sentences short.
•What did he look like? Was he dark or fair? Tall or short?
•When food was short they used to pick berries in the woods.
•file transfer protocol or FTP for short
Idioms: brick short of a load/two sandwiches short of a picnic ▪ ↑caught short ▪ ↑come short ▪ ↑fall short of something ▪ ↑get the short end of the stick ▪ ↑give get short shrift ▪ ↑have on a short fuse ▪ ↑in short ▪ ↑in short order ▪ ↑in short supply ▪ ↑in the short run ▪ ↑little short of something ▪ ↑make short work of somebody ▪ pull/bring somebody up short ▪ ↑short and sweet ▪ ↑short of something
Derived Word: ↑shortness
adverb (short·er, short·est)
1. if you go short of or run short of sth, you do not have enough of it
•I'd never let you go short of anything.
•Mothers regularly go short of food to ensure their children have enough.
•They had run short of (= used most of their supply of) fuel.
2. not as far as you need or expect
•All too often you pitch the ball short.
3. before the time expected or arranged; before the natural time
•a career tragically cut short by illness
•I'm afraid I'm going to have to stop you short there, as time is running out.
more at sell sb/yourself short at ↑sell v., stop shortstop sb shortstop short of sth/of doing sth at ↑stop v.
Word Origin:
Old English sceort, of Germanic origin; related to ↑shirt and ↑skirt.
noun (informal)
see also ↑shorts
1. (BrE)a small strong alcoholic drink, for example of ↑whisky
2. a short film/movie, especially one that is shown before the main film
3. (informal) = ↑short circuit
more at the long and (the) short of it at ↑long adj.
Word Origin:
Old English sceort, of Germanic origin; related to ↑shirt and ↑skirt.
verb intransitive, transitive ~ (sth) (out) (informal) = ↑short-circuit
Verb forms: 
Word Origin:
Old English sceort, of Germanic origin; related to ↑shirt and ↑skirt.
See also: ↑draw the short straw ▪ ↑taken short
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