short-change
/ˌʃɔːtˈtʃeɪndʒ
/verb [with object]
1Cheat (someone) by giving insufficient money as change: I’m sure I was short-changed at the bar...
- Can I sue my corner shop if they short-change me?
- If you are short-changed at a supermarket checkout point it might be a mistake.
1.1Treat unfairly by withholding something of value: (as adjective short-changed) I felt short-changed when United left five of their stars at home...
- We have, therefore, chosen to live quietly with the ban, confident that sooner or later Government would realise that ultimately it is short-changing the people.
- The poll, conducted by the University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey, underscored the way that the irrational clustering of the primaries short-changes voters.
- When it does resurface, on the final page of the book, it short-changes the reader dramatically and disappointingly.
noun (short change) [mass noun]
Insufficient money given as change.
