short

Less common meanings

11. 11
    curtadjective

    Abrupt and curt in manner, often suggesting irritation.

    The manager was short with the staff all morning.

    A short, clipped reply ended the conversation.

    UsageUsually short with someone: she was short with me.

    Similarcurt, abrupt, brusque, terse, sharp

    Oppositepatient, polite, courteous

    Note

    Speech that stops before courtesy does. In Dickens's The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870) the opium seller, laughing to soothe her customer, says, "We are short to-night! ... Short and snappish we are!" The sense sits close to curt, which suits it, since the two words share the ancestor behind the spatial sense. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Charles Dickens wrote The Mystery of Edwin Drood, first published in 1870. en.wikipedia.org
    • The speaker is the woman who sells opium to Jasper. en.wikipedia.org
    • She delivers these exact words with a laugh intended to appease her customer. gutenberg.org
    • Short and curt share an etymological ancestor. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    social media clipnouncountable

    A very brief vertical video, usually no more than a few minutes long, made for phones and shared on social media such as YouTube Shorts.

    Like a postcard compared to a full letter: quick and made to glance at.

    He shot the short vertically on his phone, added captions, and posted it before lunch.

    Brands now pay creators to make shorts promoting their products.

    Similarclip, reel

13. 13
    fail (circuit)verbtransitive

    To make or develop a short circuit, so that electric current takes an unintended path of low resistance.

    A loose strand of wire can short the control board.

    The technician shorted the capacitor to discharge it safely.

    UsageWithout an object, usually short out: the board shorted out.

    Note

    The transitive verb, and not always an accident. Technicians short a capacitor on purpose, connecting its poles so the stored charge drains away before anyone works on it. When the short is a fault, the subject is whatever caused it, as in a loose strand of wire can short the board. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Capacitors can be deliberately shorted across their terminals to discharge them before testing or maintenance. specap.com
14. 14
    electrical faultnouncountable

    An accidental connection that lets electric current bypass its proper path, usually causing a fault.

    A short in the old wiring tripped the breaker.

    Investigators blamed the fire on a short behind the wall.

    UsageUsually a short in the wiring. The full term is short circuit.

    Similarfault

    Note

    A clipping of short circuit and the everyday word for the fault, as in a short in the wiring. The path is short in the sense of low resistance. Current takes a shortcut around the load it was meant to feed, so the flow jumps, breakers trip, and fires can start. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • The electrical noun short is a shortened form of short circuit. en.wiktionary.org
    • An electrical short provides a connection of low resistance. energyeducation.ca
    • A short can bypass a load, reducing circuit resistance and increasing current. allaboutcircuits.com
    • Short-circuit currents can trip circuit breakers. eaton.com
    • Short circuits can cause fires. en.wikipedia.org
15. 15
    sudden stopadverb

    In an abrupt or sudden manner.

    He stopped short, startled by the sudden noise.

    The speaker was cut short by loud applause.

    UsageFollows a verb of stopping or cutting: stop short, cut someone short (interrupt them).

    Similarabruptly, suddenly, dead

    Note

    To cut a person short is to interrupt them. To cut an event short is to end it early.

16. 16
    give lessverbcolloquialtransitive

    To provide someone with a smaller amount than was agreed on or labeled.

    Like a jar labeled a pound that holds only fourteen ounces.

    Vendors who short their buyers quickly lose business.

    The clerk shorted her by two dollars at the register.

    UsageOften short someone on something or by an amount: shorted her by two dollars.

    Similarshortchange, cheat

17. 17
    verbtransitive

    To sell securities one does not own, for delivery later, hoping to profit when the price declines.

    Like selling tickets you haven't bought, betting their price will drop before you have to buy them.

    Hedge funds short companies they believe are overvalued.

    She shorted the tech firm just before its earnings collapsed.

    Note

    The one-word form of sell short, and it takes the thing sold as a direct object: short a stock, short a company. In practice the seller borrows the securities, sells them, and must later return them, usually by buying them back. If the price has fallen by then, the difference is profit. If it has risen, the seller pays it. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • In a typical short sale, the seller borrows and sells securities. sec.gov
    • The seller must return equivalent securities, usually by buying them back; equivalent securities already owned can also be used. sec.gov
    • The price difference is profit before costs; costs reduce the net profit and can exceed the price difference. sec.gov
    • If the repurchase price is higher, the seller bears the loss. investor.gov
18. 18
    brief vowelnouncountable

    A speech sound, syllable, or vowel having brief duration, contrasted with its long counterpart.

    Like a clipped drumbeat next to a long, sustained note.

    In Greek and Latin verse, a dactyl is made of one long syllable followed by two shorts.

    When she scanned the line, she marked every short with a breve, which made its quick, light rhythm easy to see.

    Oppositelong

    Note

    A phonetician's noun, often plural and set against longs. In A Handbook of Phonetics (1877), Henry Sweet compares the English shorts and longs of bit and beat, and of not and naught. He finds the short vowels generally wide and the long ones narrow and often diphthongal. In metrics the same pair sorts the syllables of a line. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Henry Sweet wrote A Handbook of Phonetics, first published in 1877. archive.org
    • Sweet compares English shorts and longs using bit/beat and not/naught. archive.org
    • Sweet describes the short vowels as generally wide and the long vowels as narrow and generally diphthongic. archive.org
    • Metrics classifies syllables as long and short. en.wikipedia.org
19. 19
    price-drop betnouncountable

    A market position, or the sale creating it, that profits when the price of the underlying security falls.

    Like a wager that a stock will sink rather than swim.

    The investor placed a short against the overvalued retailer.

    Rising prices forced traders to close their shorts at a loss.

    Oppositelong

    Note

    The trade rather than the trader. A short is opened and later closed out, and closing it after the price has risen means a loss. Julie Creswell, writing in 2025, called a company's stock "one of the largest shorts in the market," meaning many investors were betting it would fall. In that use the noun also works as a gauge of how much the crowd is against a stock. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • A short position is created by a sale and subsequently closed out. investor.gov
    • Closing a short by buying back the stock above the sale price incurs a loss. investor.gov
    • Julie Creswell wrote the cited article in 2025. en.wiktionary.org
    • The article calls Krispy Kreme's stock one of the largest shorts in the market and explains this as investors betting on a further fall. sanjuandailystar.com
20. 20
    adjective

    Holding an investment position structured to profit if the underlying security's price falls.

    Like betting on a team to lose: you gain when others expect a fall.

    The fund is short on oil futures heading into winter.

    She stayed short on the index until the market bottomed out.

    Similarbearish

    Oppositelong

    Note

    A market sense in which short means betting on a fall. A trader who is short in General Motors gains if the shares drop, usually after selling shares that were borrowed rather than owned. As an adjective it mostly appears in short position or after be, often with in before the company. Compare the prepositional use, which drops the in. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • A short investment position benefits from a fall in the security's price; General Motors is a hypothetical example. investor.gov
    • Short selling normally involves selling borrowed shares that the seller does not own. investor.gov
21. 21
    baseballnouncountable

    The infielder positioned between second and third base, responsible for much of the infield's defensive range.

    Like the sweeper in soccer who anchors the back line.

    With the bases loaded, the batter sent a sharp grounder to short, and the throw home beat the runner by a step.

    He was moved to short after years at second base.

    Similarshortstop

    Note

    A baseball clipping of shortstop, at home in play-by-play: a grounder between third and short. In that use it lines up with the bases named as positions, first, second and third, and refers to the spot on the field as much as to the player. Outside baseball talk, the full shortstop is the clearer choice. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • In baseball, short is a shortened form of shortstop. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    crumblyadjective

    Brittle and crumbly in texture, breaking apart easily rather than stretching or holding together.

    Like chalk that snaps cleanly instead of bending.

    A good shortbread should be short, dissolving into crumbs on the tongue.

    The high fat content keeps the pastry short and flaky.

    Similarcrumbly, crisp

    Oppositetough, chewy

    Note

    The baker's and the metalworker's sense: what breaks cleanly instead of stretching. In pastry the cause is fat, which coats the flour and holds back gluten. That is why Heston Blumenthal read butter and sugar in an old recipe as a call for short pastry. The word lives on in shortbread, shortcrust and shortening, and metallurgists call a metal that turns brittle hot short or cold-short. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 7 facts

    • Fat inhibits gluten development by coating flour proteins, helping produce crumbly pastry. ifst.org
    • Heston Blumenthal interpreted references to butter and sugar in a historical recipe as indicating short pastry. en.wiktionary.org
    • Shortbread contains short in its brittle-pastry sense. en.wiktionary.org
    • Shortcrust combines short and crust and describes brittle pastry. en.wiktionary.org
    • Shortening takes its name from making food short or crumbly. en.wikipedia.org
    • Hot short describes metal that is brittle at high temperatures. en.wiktionary.org
    • Cold-short describes metal that is brittle at low temperatures. en.wiktionary.org
23. 23
    price-drop investornouncountable

    An investor who sells borrowed securities in the expectation of profiting from a price decline.

    Like a critic who profits only when the thing they doubt actually fails.

    The short who exposed the fraud became famous on Wall Street.

    Several shorts piled into the stock after the accounting scandal broke.

    Similarbear

    Oppositebull, long

    Note

    Here the word names people, not trades: the shorts are the investors betting on a fall. They celebrate when everyone else mourns, as in the market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne. Context separates them from the position itself. Shorts who buy champagne are people, while shorts that are closed out are trades. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • Short sellers can profit from falling securities prices; the champagne sentence illustrates this rather than reporting an actual event. sec.gov
24. 24
    bet againstadverb

    In a manner involving a negative ownership position, so that a falling price yields a profit.

    Like betting against the tide so you win when it goes out.

    Convinced that the housing market would crash, she sold short and profited when prices fell.

    Funds that trade short can profit even in a falling market.

    Oppositelong

    Note

    The adverb behind go short, the trader's phrase for opening a bet against a price. It can take its object directly, with no in or on between: we went short most finance companies. It is not usually compared, though traders do speak of going even shorter when they add to such a bet. The phrase describes the act of taking the position, where the adjective describes the state of holding it. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • Traders can use shorter for an increase in negative exposure, even though the adverb is normally classified as not comparable. smartermarkets.media
25. 25
    preposition

    Holding a negative or bearish position in the named security, profiting when its price declines.

    Like wagering against a horse: you collect when it trails the field.

    The desk has been short bonds since rates began climbing.

    She went short euros ahead of the central bank's decision.

    Note

    On the trading floor, short can take its object with no linking word: short the market, short bonds, short euros. The typical shape is be, then short, then the asset, as in I don't want to be short the market going into the weekend. That bareness marks the jargon, and the adjective tends to bring in a preposition instead, as in short in General Motors.

26. 26
    adjectivecolloquial

    Of an alcoholic drink, taken neat, with no water or mixer added.

    Like espresso compared to a watered-down americano.

    He's not a fan of long drinks full of ice and soda, so he sticks to short ones like a straight whiskey.

    After dinner, the guests moved from wine to short drinks, a splash of brandy or whiskey with nothing added.

    Similarneat, straight, undiluted

    Oppositelong, diluted

    Note

    A drinker's word with a long pedigree. In Dickens's Dombey and Son the Chicken asks whether there "ain't no drain of nothing short handy," and he is handed rum. Short means the spirit as poured, with nothing added, so take it short means take it neat. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Dombey and Son is by Charles Dickens. gutenberg.org
    • The drinking expression has historical literary evidence: the Chicken uses the quoted words in Dombey and Son. gutenberg.org
    • The Chicken is offered rum in response. gutenberg.org
27. 27
    adjective

    In cricket, of a delivery, pitched to land a comparatively long way in front of the batter.

    Fast bowlers use the short delivery to push batters back onto their heels.

    The ball was a little short, and the captain pulled it away for four.

    Oppositefull

    Note

    Cricket measures a delivery by where it lands, and short means it bounces well before the batsman; its opposite is full. Fast bowlers use the short ball to push a batsman back, but a short ball without much pace, a long hop, sits up to be pulled for four. The same idea serves as an adverb, as when a bowler bowls short. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • A delivery's length describes where it bounces; short and full indicate opposite ends of that range. en.wikipedia.org
    • Fast bowlers use short deliveries to push the batter back. en.wikipedia.org
    • A long hop is a short delivery without much pace. en.wikipedia.org
    • A long hop sits up invitingly for the batter. cricketforindia.com
    • A long hop offers an opportunity to pull the ball for four. cricket.com.au
28. 28
    adjective

    Describing a vowel or syllable that takes relatively little time to say, or one with the sound English has traditionally called short rather than long.

    In Latin verse, a short syllable takes about half the time of a long one.

    Adding a silent e at the end usually turns a short vowel into a long one, as in hop and hope.

    Oppositelong

    Note

    Two traditions share the label. In Latin verse, short is a matter of time, and the meter is built from short and long syllables. In English spelling lessons it names a set of sounds, the vowels of hat, bet, sit, hop and cut, whose long partners in hate or hope are different vowels, not stretched versions of the same one. Phonics means the second; prosody the first. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

    • In Latin, short and long describe temporal quantity. dcc.dickinson.edu
    • Latin metre is built from short and long syllables. dcc.dickinson.edu
    • English spelling instruction calls the vowel sounds exemplified by hat, bet, sit, hop and cut short. en.wikipedia.org
    • The corresponding English long vowels differ in sound quality, rather than being merely prolonged short vowels. en.wikipedia.org
    • Phonics uses the English teaching convention for short and long. thuas.com
    • Classical prosody distinguishes short and long syllables. en.wikipedia.org
29. 29
    nouncolloquialBritishcountablebritish

    A drink of spirits or other strong liquor served in a small measure, unlike a long drink such as beer.

    We were on pints all evening, but he switched to shorts after ten o'clock.

    Fancy a quick short before last orders, or are you sticking with beer?

    UsageYou have a short, or move on to shorts after beer. In American English, shot is the nearer word.

    Similarshot

    Note

    It names the drink by its small measure, set against a long drink, though in practice it means spirits.

30. 30
    adjective

    Doubtful about something and skeptical of whether it can be believed or trusted.
31. 31
    adjective

    In cricket, of a fielding position, placed near the batter.
32. 32
    adjective

    Of a golf shot, stopping before reaching its target on the course.
33. 33
    adjective

    Of betting odds, paying back little because the outcome is likely.
34. 34
    adjectiveobsolete

    Coming soon, not far off in time.

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

    1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
35. 35
    adjectivedated

    Of cash, handed over in large bills so that the count of bills is small.
36. 36
    adverb

    By surprise, without warning.
37. 37
    adverb

    In cricket, so as to land well away from the batter and bounce higher than usual.
38. 38
    noun

    A garment made in a reduced length for its size, for people who are not tall.
39. 39
    noun

    In programming, an integer type with a narrower range than a standard int, usually 16 bits.
40. 40
    nounslangUS

    A car, a slang use found mainly in the phrase 'crack shorts,' meaning to break into vehicles.
41. 41
    verbobsolete

    To reduce the length of something.