Not long; having little length or linear extension: as, a short distance; a short flight; a short stick or string.Not tall; low in stature.Not long in time; of brief duration.Not up to a required standard or amount; not reaching a certain point; lacking; scant; insufficient; deficient: as, a short supply of provisions; short allowance of money; short weight or measure.In this sense much used predicatively, followed by of, in comparative statements.Less than; inferior to: as, his escape was little short of a miracle.Inadequate to; incommensurate to.On the hither side of; not up with or even with; not having reached or attained: as, you are short of the mark.Deficient in wisdom or discretion; defective; at fault; in error.Insufficiently provided or supplied (with); scantily furnished (with); not possessed of the required or usual quantity or amount (of): often with of: as, we have not received our allowance, we are still short; to be short of funds, materials, or tools.In exchange transactions:Noting something that has been sold short (see under short, adverb); not in hand or possession when contract to deliver is made: as, short stocks.Noting transactions in values not possessed at the time of contract, but to be procured before the time of delivery: as, short sales.Not possessed of a sufficiency to meet one's engagements: with of: as, to be short of X preferred.Of or pertaining to those who have sold short: as, the short interest in the market (that is, the “bears,” or those persons who have sold short, and whose interest it is to depress prices).Not far in the future: not distant in time; near at hand.Limited in power or grasp; not far-reaching or comprehensive; not tenacious or retentive: said of mental faculties: as, a short memory.Brief; not lengthy; concise.Said of a speaker or writer.Curt; brief; abrupt; sharp; petulant; crusty; uncivil: as, a short answer.In archery, not shot far enough to reach the mark.Brittle; friable; breaking or crumbling readily; inclined to flake off; defective in point of coherence or adherence: as, pastry is made short with butter or lard; iron is made cold-short by phosphorus, and hot-short by sulphur; the presence of coal-cinders makes mortar short.Not prolonged in utterance; less in duration than times or sounds called long: said of times, vowels, and syllables.In Eng. orthoëpy, noting the pronunciation of the vowels a, e, i, o, u exemplified in the words fat, met, sit, not, nut. See long, adjective, 5 .Unmixed with water; undiluted; neat, as spirits; hence, strong: as, something short (a glass of spirits as distinguished from beer or other mild beverage).Small (and hence portable).The petticoats or the whole dress of young children who have left off the long clothes of early infancy.plural The right or left hypochondrium; the hypochondriac region, where the short or floating ribs are.On the stock-exchange, to sell largely, expecting to buy later as many shares as may have been previously sold.n. A summary account: as, the short of the matter: see the long and the short, under long.n. In prosody, a short time or syllable. See long, n., 2.n. Whatever is deficient in number, quantity, or the like.n. plural The bran and coarse part of meal, in mixture.n. plural In rope-making, the toppings and tailings of hemp, which are dressed for bolt-ropes and whale-lines; also, hemp inferior to that used in making staple ropes.n. plural Small-clothes; knee-breeches: a term introduced when but few persons still wore this dress, trousers being more common.n. plural In printing, the copies that have been or should be reprinted to make full a deficient edition.n. In exchange dealings:n. A short sale: as, to cover one's shorts.n. One who has made short sales, or has sold short. See to sell short, below.n. In base-ball, same as short-stop.In a short manner, in any sense; briefly or curtly; not at length; insufficiently; friably.To become short; shorten.Nautical, to take in the slack; haul in.To make short; shorten.To make the time appear short to; amuse; divert: used reflexively.n. In electricity, a short circuit.To short-circuit an electrical machine, line, or system of conductors.
