short

Etymology

From Middle English schort, short, from Old English sċeort, sċort (“short”), from Proto-West Germanic *skurt, from Proto-Germanic *skurtaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-. Cognate with shirt, skirt, curt, Scots short, schort (“short”), French court, Dutch kort, German kurz, Old High German scurz (“short”) (whence Middle High German schurz), Old Norse skorta (“to lack”) (whence Danish skorte), Albanian shkurt (“short, brief”), Latin curtus (“shortened, incomplete”), Proto-Slavic *kortъkъ. Doublet of curt. More at shirt.

adj

1. Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
2. (of a person) Of comparatively small height.
3. Having little duration.
   Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it’s been at least twenty minutes long.
   Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals. 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 172
4. (followed by for) Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).
   "Phone" is short for "telephone" and "asap" short for "as soon as possible".
5. (cricket, of a fielder or fielding position) that is relatively close to the batsman.
6. (cricket, of a ball) bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.
7. (golf, of an approach shot or putt) that falls short of the green or the hole.
8. (gambling) Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.
9. (baking, of pastries, metallurgy) Brittle, crumbly. (See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust, shortening, hot short, cold-short.)
   I chose to interpret the references to butter and sugar as indicating that a short pastry was required. (Later editions suggest a biscuit-like texture.) 2013, Heston Blumenthal, Historic Heston, page 122
10. Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.
    He gave a short answer to the question.
11. Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.
    a short supply of provisions
12. Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.
    to be short of money
    I'd lend you the cash but I'm a little short at present.
    The cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.
13. Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.
    an account which is short of the truth
    […]the people are worn down with taxes, and hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse them again to war. 1829, Walter Savage Landor, “The Emperor Alexander and Capo D'Istria”, in Imaginary Conversations, volume IV
14. (colloquial) Undiluted; neat.
    Delance raised his beer and watched Hoadly throw down another swig of hard stuff. "Take it short if you want to make it over the mountain tonight." 2003, Linda Chaikin, Desert Rose
15. (obsolete) Not distant in time; near at hand.
16. (finance) Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.
    Coordinate term: long
    short position
    I'm short in General Motors because I think their sales are plunging.
17. (by extension) Doubtful of, skeptical of.
18. (finance, dated) Of money: given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.
    He pulled a cheque-book from his pocket, and drew for two hundred thousand pounds. “I'll take it short,” he said […] 1909, James Blyth, The member for Easterby, page 296

adv

1. Abruptly, curtly, briefly.
   They had to stop short to avoid hitting the dog in the street.
   He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.
   The boss got a message and cut the meeting short.
2. Unawares.
   The recent developments at work caught them short.
3. Without achieving a goal or requirement.
   His speech fell short of what was expected.
4. (cricket, of the manner of bounce of a cricket ball) Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.
5. (finance) With a negative ownership position.
   We went short most finance companies in July.

noun

1. A short circuit.
2. A short film.
   Preceded by a Simpsons short 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. July 12 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club, Ice Age: Continental Drift
3. A short version of a garment in a particular size.
   38 short suits fit me right off the rack.
   Do you have that size in a short?
4. (baseball) A shortstop.
   Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.
5. (finance) A short seller.
   The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.
6. (finance) A short sale or short position.
   He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.
7. A summary account.
8. (phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.
   If we compare the nearest conventional shorts 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. 1877, Henry Sweet, A Handbook of Phonetics, page 18
9. (programming) An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.
10. (US, slang) An automobile; especially in crack shorts, to break into automobiles.
    For example, one addict would crack shorts (break and enter cars) and usually obtain just enough stolen goods to buy stuff and get off just before getting sick. 1975, Mary Sanches, Ben G. Blount, Sociocultural Dimensions of Language Use, page 47
    […] list of all crimes reported by these 61 daily criminals during their years on the street is: theft (this includes shoplifting; "cracking shorts", burglary and other forms of stealing), dealing, forgery, gambling, confidence games (flim-flam, etc.) […] 1982, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice, Career Criminal Life Sentence Act of 1981: Hearings, page 87

verb

1. (transitive) To cause a short circuit in (something).
2. (intransitive, of an electrical circuit) To short circuit.
3. (transitive) To shortchange.
4. (transitive, informal) To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.
   This is the third time I’ve caught them shorting us.
5. (transitive, business) To sell something, especially securities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; to sell short.
6. (obsolete) To shorten.

prep

1. Deficient in.
   We are short a few men on the second shift.
   He's short common sense.
2. (finance) Having a negative position in.
   I don’t want to be short the market going into the weekend.