short for something Definition

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.