- short
- I [[t]ʃɔ͟ː(r)t[/t]]
ADJECTIVE AND ADVERB USES
♦shorter, shortest(Please look at category 24 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.)1) ADJ-GRADED If something is short or lasts for a short time, it does not last very long.
The announcement was made a short time ago...
How could you do it in such a short period of time?...
Mr Annan took a short break before resuming his schedule...
Kemp gave a short laugh...
We had a short meeting.
Ant:2) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n If you talk about a short hour, day, or year, you mean that it seems to have passed very quickly or will seem to pass very quickly.For a few short weeks there was peace...
Only five short years later, your money will have grown by $94,000.
Ant:3) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n A short speech, letter, or book does not have many words or pages in it.They were performing a short extract from Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona...
This is a short note to say thank you.
Ant:4) ADJ-GRADED Someone who is short is not as tall as most people are.I'm tall and thin and he's short and fat.
...a short, elderly woman with grey hair...
He's the shortest of four brothers.
Ant:5) ADJ-GRADED Something that is short measures only a small amount from one end to the other.The city centre and shops are only a short distance away...
A short flight of steps led to a grand doorway...
His black hair was very short.
Ant:6) ADJ-GRADED: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ of n If you are short of something or if it is short, you do not have enough of it. If you are running short of something or if it is running short, you do not have much of it left.Her father's illness left the family short of money...
Government forces are running short of ammunition and fuel...
Supplies of everything are unreliable, food is short...
Time is running short.
7) ADJ: v-link ADJ of n If someone or something is or stops short of a place, they have not quite reached it. If they are or fall short of an amount, they have not quite achieved it.He stopped a hundred yards short of the building...
So what happens if the Socialists top the poll but fall short of an absolute majority?...
Inflation is just short of 11 per cent...
They were still 91 short of their target.
8) PHR-PREP: PREP n/-ing Short of a particular thing means except for that thing or without actually doing that thing.Short of climbing railings four metres high, there was no way into the garden from this road...
They have no means, short of civil war, to enforce their will upon the minorities.
Syn:except for9) ADV: ADV after v If something is cut short or stops short, it is stopped before people expect it to or before it has finished.His glittering career was cut short by a heart attack...
Jackson cut short his trip to Africa...
His voice stopped short as he saw the blade emerge from Desmond's pocket.
10) ADJ: v-link ADJ for n If a name or abbreviation is short for another name, it is the short version of that name.Her friend Kes (short for Kesewa) was in tears...
`O.O.B.E.' is short for `Out Of Body Experience'.
11) ADJ-GRADED If you have a short temper, you get angry very easily.→ See also short-tempered...an awkward, self-conscious woman with a short temper.
12) ADJ-GRADED: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ with n If you are short with someone, you speak briefly and rather rudely to them, because you are impatient or angry.She seemed nervous or tense, and she was definitely short with me.
Syn:13) PHRASE: V inflects If you are caught short or are taken short, you feel a sudden strong need to urinate, especially when you cannot easily find a toilet. [BRIT, INFORMAL]14) PHRASE: usu n PHR If a person or thing is called something for short, that is the short version of their name.Opposite me was a woman called Jasminder (Jazzy for short)...
This condition is called seasonal affective disorder, or SAD for short.
15) PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR of n If you go short of something, especially food, you do not have as much of it as you want or need.Some people may manage their finances badly and therefore have to go short of essentials.
16) PHRASE: PHR with cl You use in short when you have been giving a lot of details and you want to give a conclusion or summary.Try tennis, badminton or windsurfing. In short, anything challenging...
She was surrounded by doctors, lawyers, housewives - people, in short, like herself.
17) PHRASE: v-link PHR adj/n (emphasis) You use nothing short of or little short of to emphasize how great or extreme something is. For example, if you say that something is nothing short of a miracle or nothing short of disastrous, you are emphasizing that it is a miracle or it is disastrous.The results are nothing short of magnificent...
His last visit to Washington was little short of a fiasco.
18) PHRASE: v-link PHR If you say that someone is, for example, several cards short of a full deck or one sandwich short of a picnic, you think they are stupid, foolish, or crazy. [INFORMAL]19) PHRASE: V inflects (disapproval) If someone or something is short on a particular good quality, they do not have as much of it as you think they should have.He was very short on enthusiasm...
The proposals were short on detail.
20) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR -ing/n If someone stops short of doing something, they come close to doing it but do not actually do it.He stopped short of explicitly criticizing the government...
The resolution stopped short of an outright declaration of independence.
21) PHRASE: on PHR, PHR n If workers are put on short time, they are asked to work fewer hours than the normal working week, because their employer can not afford to pay them a full time wage.Workers across the country have been put on short time because of the slump in demand...
Most manufacturers have had to introduce short-time working.
22) PHRASE: V inflects If something pulls you up short or brings you up short, it makes you suddenly stop what you are doing.The name on the gate pulled me up short.
23) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If you make short work of someone or something, you deal with them or defeat them very quickly. [INFORMAL]II [[t]ʃɔ͟ː(r)t[/t]] NOUN USESAgassi made short work of his opponent.
shorts1) N-PLURAL: also a pair of N Shorts are trousers with very short legs, that people wear in hot weather or for taking part in sports....two women in bright cotton shorts and tee shirts.
2) N-PLURAL: also a pair of N Shorts are men's underpants with short legs. [mainly AM]3) N-COUNT A short is a small amount of a strong alcoholic drink such as whisky, gin, or vodka, rather than a weaker alcoholic drink that you can drink in larger quantities. [mainly BRIT]4) N-COUNT A short is a short film, especially one that is shown before the main film at the cinema.
English dictionary. 2008.
