Nhung Ngo had theshortest legs at Site-43. She was theshortest 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.
Our meeting was ashort six minutes today. Every day for the past month it’s been at least twenty minutes long.
1980, Alvin Toffler,The Third Wave, page230:
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,[…]
2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, inAmerican Scientist[2], volume100, number 2, archived fromthe original on19 February 2013, page172:
Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers andshort above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.
2025 January 23, Kristen Rogers, “People with ADHD have shorter life expectancy and higher risk of mental health issues, study finds”, inCNN[3]:
Having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is associated with ashorter 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.
(followed byfor) Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).
"Phone" isshort for "telephone" and "asap"short for "as soon as possible".
I chose to interpret the references to butter and sugar as indicating that ashort pastry was required. (Later editions suggest a biscuit-like texture.)
The reason I was a tadshort 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[…].
Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.
ashort supply of provisions
Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.
to beshort of money
I'd lend you the cash but I'm a littleshort at present.
The cashier came upshort ten dollars on his morning shift.
Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.
an account which isshort of the truth
1829,Walter Savage Landor, “The Emperor Alexander and Capo D'Istria”, inImaginary Conversations, volume IV:
[…]the people are worn down with taxes, and hardly anythingshort of an invasion could rouse them again to war.
“There ain’t no drain of nothingshort 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[…]
2003, Linda Chaikin,Desert Rose:
Delance raised his beer and watched Hoadly throw down another swig of hard stuff. "Take itshort if you want to make it over the mountain tonight."
(having a small distance between ends or edges):Short is often used in the positivevertical dimension and used as isshallow in the negative vertical dimension; in the horizontal dimensionnarrow is more commonly used.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
2012 July 12, Sam Adams, AV Club,Ice Age: Continental Drift[4]:
Preceded by a Simpsonsshort 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.
1877, Henry Sweet,A Handbook of Phonetics, page18:
If we compare the nearest conventionalshorts 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.
(US,slang) Anautomobile;especially incrack shorts(“to break into automobiles”).
1975, Mary Sanches, Ben G. Blount,Sociocultural Dimensions of Language Use, page47:
For example, one addict would crackshorts (break and enter cars) and usually obtain just enough stolen goods to buy stuff and get off just before getting sick.
1982, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice,Career Criminal Life Sentence Act of 1981: Hearings, page87:
[…] list of all crimes reported by these 61 daily criminals during their years on the street is: theft (this includes shoplifting; "crackingshorts", burglary and other forms of stealing), dealing, forgery, gambling, confidence games (flim-flam, etc.)[…]
This is the third time I've caught themshorting us.
1991 August 24, Maridee BonaDea, quoting Brian Freeman, “Pomo Afro Homos On The Road”, inGay Community News, volume19, number 6, page 9:
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 gettingshorted.
(transitive,business) To sell something, especiallysecurities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; tosell short.
According toRoyal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
