cut something short Definition

cut
verb cut, cutting

tr & intr
1. To slit, pierce, slice or sever (a person or thing) using a sharp instrument.

Thesaurus: sever, cleave, quarter, dissect, shear, behead, bisect, amputate, truncate, rive, hew, pierce, puncture, gash, wound, gouge, incise, perforate.
Form: cut something off (also)
Form: cut something out
2. To divide something by cutting.

Form: cut something up (often)
3. To trim (hair, nails, etc).
4. To reap or mow (corn, grass, etc).
5. To prune (flowers or plants).
6. To make or form it by cutting.

Form: cut something out (sometimes)
7. To shape the surface of (a gem) into facets, or decorate (glass) by cutting.
8. To shape the pieces of (a garment).

Example: He cuts clothes so that they hang perfectly
9. To make (a sound recording).
10. To injure or wound with a sharp edge or instrument.
11. To hurt.

Example: cut someone to the heart
12. To reduce (eg prices, wages, interest rates, working hours, etc).
13. To shorten or abridge (eg a book or play).

Thesaurus: edit down, condense, abridge, shorten.
14. To delete or omit.
15. To edit (a film).
intr
16. To stop filming.
intr
17. cinema.
Said of a film or camera: to change directly to another shot, etc.
18. math.
To cross or intersect.
19. To reject or renounce.

Example: cut one's links with one's family
20. informal
To ignore or pretend not to recognize someone.
21. To stop.

Example: The alcoholic was told to cut his drinking or risk serious liver damage
22. informal
To absent oneself from something.
Example: cut classes
23. To switch off (an engine, etc).
24. cricket.
To hit (a ball) with a slicing action, causing it to spin or swerve.
25. Said of a baby: to grow (teeth).
intr
26. To go off in a certain direction; to take a short route.

Form: cut across (usually)
Form: cut through
27. To dilute (eg an alcoholic drink) or adulterate (a drug).

Example: John cuts his whisky with ginger ale
Thesaurus: weaken, dilute, adulterate, water.
28. To divide; to partition.

Example: a room cut in half by a bookcase

noun

1. An act of cutting; a cutting movement or stroke.
2. A slit, incision or injury made by cutting.

Thesaurus: incision, severance, cleft, hack, slash, notch, slit.
3. A reduction.

Thesaurus: reduction, decrease, diminution, elision, omission.
4. A deleted passage in a play, etc.
5. The stoppage of an electricity supply, etc.
6. slang
One's share of the profits.
7. A piece of meat cut from an animal.
8. The style in which clothes or hair are cut.
9. A sarcastic remark.
10. A refusal to recognize someone; a snub.
11. A short cut.
12. A channel, passage or canal.

Idiom: a cut above something

colloq
Superior to it.
Thesaurus: superior to, higher than, better than, more efficient than, more capable than, more competent than.

Idiom: cut and dried

Decided; definite; settled beforehand.
Thesaurus: fixed, settled, routine, prearranged, predetermined, sewn up.

Idiom: cut and run

colloq
To escape smartly.

Idiom: cut and thrust

Aggressive competition; quick verbal exchange or repartee.

Idiom: cut both ways

To have advantages and disadvantages; to bear out both sides of an argument.

Idiom: cut someone dead

To ignore them completely.

Idiom: cut it fine

colloq
To have or leave barely enough time, space, etc for something.

Idiom: cut it out

slang
To stop doing something bad or undesirable.

Idiom: cut out for something (cut out to be something)

Having the qualities needed for it.
Thesaurus: suitable for, fit for, good for.

Idiom: cut something short

To reduce or shorten it.
Thesaurus: diminish, abbreviate, abridge, shorten.

Idiom: cut someone short

To silence them by interrupting.

Idiom: cut up

colloq
Distressed; upset.

Idiom: cut up rough

colloq
To get angry and violent.

Idiom: cut a long story short

To come straight to the point.

Idiom: half cut

(rit)
slang
Drunk.

Etymology: 13c as cutten.

Phrasal Verb: cut across something

To go against (normal procedure, etc).Said of an issue, etc: to be more important than, or transcend (the barriers or divisions between parties, etc).To take a short cut through it, eg a field, etc.

Phrasal Verb: cut back on something

To reduce spending, etc. See also cutback.

Phrasal Verb: cut something down

To fell a tree, etc.

Phrasal Verb: cut down on something

To reduce one's use of it; to do less of it.

Phrasal Verb: cut in

To interrupt.Said of a vehicle: to overtake and squeeze in front of another vehicle.

Phrasal Verb: cut something off

To separate or isolate it.To stop (the supply of gas, electricity, etc).To stop it or cut it short. See also cut-off.

Phrasal Verb: cut someone off

To disconnect them during a telephone call.

Phrasal Verb: cut out

Said of an engine, etc: to stop working.Said of an electrical device: to switch off or stop automatically, usually as a safety precaution. See also cut-out.

Phrasal Verb: cut something out

To remove or delete it.To clip pictures, etc out of a magazine, etc.To stop doing it.To exclude it from consideration.To block out the light or view. See also cut-out.

Phrasal Verb: cut someone up

Said of the driver of a vehicle: to drive in front of (another vehicle) in a dangerous manner.

---

short
adj

1. Having little physical length; not long.
2. Having little height.

Thesaurus: undersized, small, little, dwarfish, stubby, squat, stunted, diminutive, pint-sized; Antonym: large, ample.
3. Having little extent or duration; brief; concise.

Example: short day
Thesaurus: brief, fleeting, curtailed, condensed, terse, succinct, pithy, abridged, compressed, short-lived; Antonym: sustained, lasting.
4. In the early future.

Example: short date
5. Indicating a seemingly short length of time.

Example: For a few short weeks we could enjoy our time together
6. Said of a temper: quickly and easily lost.
7. Rudely abrupt; curt.

Example: She was very short with him
Thesaurus: curt, rude, cantankerous, quarrelsome, impatient, irascible, petulant.
8. Said of the memory: tending not to retain things for long.
9. Said of a substance, especially food: brittle.
10. Said of pastry: crisp and crumbling easily.
11. Failing to reach the standard; not going far enough.
12. In short supply; in demand.

Example: We are two tickets short
Thesaurus: inadequate, deficient, lacking, wanting; Antonym: sufficient.
13. In default.
14. Referring to the sale of what one cannot supply.
15. phonetics.
Said of a vowel sound: being the briefer of two possible lengths of vowel.
16. poetry.
Said of a syllable: unaccented.
17. colloq
Said of an alcoholic drink, especially a spirit: not diluted with water; neat.
18. Lacking in money.

Example: I'm a bit short at the moment
19. cricket.
Said of fielding positions: relatively close to the batsman.
20. Said of betting odds: providing the winner with only a small profit; near even.

adverb

1. Abruptly; briefly.

Example: stopped short
2. On this or the near side.

Example: The dart fell short of the board

noun

1. Something that is short.
2. Shortness; abbreviation or summary.
3. colloq
A drink of an alcoholic spirit.
4. A short cinema film shown before the main feature film.
5. A short circuit.

verb

tr & intr
shorted, shorting
1. To short-circuit.

Derivative: shortness
noun

Idiom: be caught short (be taken short)

colloq
To have an urgent need to urinate or defecate.

Idiom: cut someone or something short

See under cut.

Idiom: fall short

To be insufficient; to be less than a required, expected or stated amount.

Idiom: for short

As an abbreviated form.
Example: She gets called Jenny for short

Idiom: go short of something (run short of something)

Not to have enough of it; to have an insufficient supply of it.
Example: We're running short of milk

Idiom: in short

Concisely stated; in a few words.

Idiom: in short order

Very quickly.
Thesaurus: soon, rapidly, without delay, quickly.

Idiom: in short supply

Not available in the required or desired quantity; scarce.
Example: Food is in short supply in Bosnia

Idiom: in the short run

Within a short space of time; over a brief period.

Idiom: make short work of someone or something

To settle or dispose of quickly and thoroughly.
Example: I made short work of the essay

Idiom: short and sweet

colloq
Agreeably brief.

Idiom: short for something

An abbreviated form of it.
Example: Jenny is short for Jennifer

Idiom: short of something (short on something)

Deficient; lacking in it.
Example: We're always short of money
Example: She's a bit short on tact

Idiom: short of something

Without going as far as it; except it.
Example: We tried every kind of persuasion short of threats

Idiom: stop short

To come to an abrupt halt or standstill.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon sceort.