a. Having small longitudinal extent; measuring little along its greatest dimension, or from end to end. Opposed to long.

b. of grass, wool, hair, down, etc. to get by the short hairs: see to get (a person) by the short hairs at hair n. Phrases 15. Also, in same sense (slang, originally Military), to get or have (a person) by the short and curlies.

c. of a garment.

d. Const. in: Having a specified part short.

e. Of distance: Not great. Of a journey, flight, etc., Extending over a short distance. †Hence of a passenger, a train: Travelling a short distance.

†f. short weapon n. ? a weapon for hand-to-hand fighting (or perhaps a sword, dagger, etc. as opposed to a lance or pike). Also a soldier bearing such a weapon. Obsolete.

g. figurative. In Biblical expressions, said of a person's ‘hand’ or ‘arm’, implying inadequacy or limited range of power.

h. Of action, vision, etc.: Reaching but a little way. (See short sight n.) Hence figurative of mental powers, ideas, etc.: Contracted in range.

i. As complement. to cut, trim, etc. short: to make short by cutting, trimming, etc.This use is difficult to distinguish from the adverb use in to cut short at sense C. 9 (= French couper court): see C. 9.

a. Of persons: Low in stature: opposed to tall. †shorter by the head: beheaded. short by the knees (nonce-use): said of a person kneeling.

†b. rarely of a hill. Obsolete.

a. Of a period of time, of a process, state or action considered as extending over a period of time: Having little extent in duration, lasting but little time, brief. Also said of duration. at short intervals: at times separated by brief intervals. in short order: see order n. Phrases 2c.

b. Occasionally applied to conditions, qualities, etc. not usually described in terms of duration: Not lasting a long time, soon over, short-lived. Somewhat archaic.

c. to make short work of (occasionally with): to deal summarily with, to dispose of quickly.

†d. Qualifying days as collective plural = time. Also short days used adverbially for ‘in a short time’. Scottish.

e. short prescription n. (Law): a prescription established by a short period of user.

f. Qualifying a noun denoting a period of time, to indicate a pleased or regretful sense of its brevity. (Cf. A. 15b.)

g. short while adv. used adverbially (now only preceded by a) with the sense ‘during a short time’. (In Old English as adverbial genitive.)

†h. to make (it) short: to lose no time, hasten.

i. Of a person's memory: Not long retaining anything.

a. Of an appointed date in the future: Allowing but a short time, early, near at hand. Chiefly in phrases a short day (Law), (a bill) at short date or sight (Comm.).

b. Of notice: Given not long beforehand.

†c. Phrase. at short hand: for immediate needs only. Obsolete.

a. Of a speech, sentence, book, word, etc.: Having a small extent from beginning to end; brief. Phrases, to make a long story short: see long adj.¹ and n.¹ Phrases 3g; to make short of long. Also †in short words: in few words, briefly. the short answer to (something) is (and variants) (colloquial), used to introduce a straightforward, immediate, or peremptory response or solution; also transferred and figurative.

b. short story: a prose work of fiction, differing from a novel by being shorter and less elaborate; a novelette. Also attributive. Hence short-storyist. Also short short story, a very short story; also elliptical as short-short.

c. Phrase. short and sweet: brief and pleasant; now usually more or less ironically, of an expression that is brief and severe or decisive, or that is excessively or unusually brief.

†d. elliptically to make short: to cut one's speech short. Also as infinitive phrase: ‘to make a long story short’; to be brief. Const. of. Obsolete.

e. Of a speaker: Brief, occupying little time. Now rare.

a. Of style of writing or speaking, hence of a writer or speaker: Concise.

†b. to be short (infinitive phrase) = ‘in short’.

a. Of utterances (occasionally of gestures, etc.): Rudely, angrily, or sternly brief or curt. Of persons (chiefly predicative): Rudely or angrily curt in expression; returning short answers; snappish (const. with a person).

†b. Not ‘long-suffering’; prompt to condemn. Obsolete. rare.

c. Hasty in temper, easily provoked, irascible. Said also of the temper.

a. Of a series or succession: Of small extent, having few members or terms. ? Obsolete.

b. short hour n. an hour indicated by a few strokes of the clock. (Cf. small hours at small adj. and n.² Compounds 4.)

c. a short purse: a purse soon exhausted; scanty resources. So a short kennel: a small pack of hounds.

a. something short: undiluted spirits. short drink: a small measure of liquor; a drink which is relatively strong in alcohol and hence drunk in small measures; a dram of spirits or the like.Perhaps originally from having a short name: e.g. ‘brandy’, not ‘brandy and water’.

b. Commerce. (See quots.)

a. Of things: Not coming up to some standard of measure or amount; inadequate in quantity. short measure, short weight: defective quantity by measure or weight; also, a measuring rod, vessel, etc., or a scale-weight, which defrauds the purchaser. short commons: see commons n.; also figurative; so short allowance, short rations, etc. Also short change (change n. 5c). Cf. in short supply at supply n. Phrases 5.

b. Qualifying a noun denoting a period of time, distance, number, quantity, etc., to indicate an extent less than that expressed by the noun short ton: see short ton at ton n.¹ 4a.

c. Qualifying a noun of action. short delivery, short shipment (Commerce): delivery or shipment of goods less in quantity than agreed on or invoiced.

d. Said of a book which has been cut down or cropped in the binding. (Cf. tall adj. 7b.)

a. short of or †from (in predicative use, also qualifying a preceding noun or neuter indefinite pronoun): Not fully attaining or amounting to (some condition or degree); not equalling (some other person or thing); inferior to; less than (a specified number or quantity). Also, †inadequate to, not fully worthy of (obsolete). Often with limiting adverb (far, little, much, nothing, etc.) or an expression of number or quantity used adverbially, indicating the extent of the deficiency.In modern use, the original adjectival character of short in this application is much obscured, short of tending to be felt as a preposition. Occasionally the word governed by of is an adjective (e.g. in quot. 1837); cf. the similar use of (little, nothing) less than.

b. In expressions like a little short of, nothing short of, the adjective is occasionally used absol.

a. Defaulting in payments.

†b. Lacking in performance. Of an author: Defective in information. Obsolete.

†c. Below the truth in one's estimate or calculation. Obsolete.

d. Having an insufficient supply of money, food, or something else implied by the context; spec. not having the means to meet one's engagements. to go short: to suffer privation, have less than enough.

e. short of: having an insufficient quantity of. Also, not possessing, lacking (something necessary or desirable); in want of (something to complete the desired number).

f. Preceded or followed by a noun or an expression of quantity, indicating what is lacking of the required number or amount. a shingle short: see shingle n.¹ 1b.

g. U.S. Stock Market. Having sold as yet unacquired stock which the seller hopes can be bought at a lower price before the time fixed for delivery. Also short of (such stock). Cf. A. 11.

h. short on: having an insufficient quantity of, deficient in respect of.

i. U.S. Of a race-horse, not in top form. Also in attributive use.

a. Of persons, etc.: To become short of, ‘run out’ of (something). Also without const.

b. Of supplies: To become or prove insufficient in quantity; to become exhausted.

a. of crust, pastry, etc. Cf. shortbread n., shortcake n., short crust n.

b. of fruit, meat, etc. to eat short: to break up or crumble in the mouth.

a. in short (also Scottish. †at short): briefly, concisely. From the 18th cent. onwards used only as parenthetical phrase, introducing or accompanying a summary statement of what has been previously said. †in short and plain: briefly and plainly.

†b. in short (? also Scottish. at short): in a short time, quickly. Obsolete. (The Sc. example may belong to sense A. 1a.)