short

primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration

• “a short life”
• “a short flight”
• “a short holiday”
• “a short story”
• “only a few short months”

primarily spatial sense; having little length or lacking in length

• “short skirts”
• “short hair”
• “the board was a foot short”
• “a short toss”

low in stature; not tall

• “his was short and stocky”
• “short in stature”
• “a short smokestack”

not sufficient to meet a need

• “an inadequate income”
• “a poor salary”
• “money is short”
• “on short rations”
• “food is in short supply”
• “short on experience”

not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices

• “a short sale”
• “short in cotton”

of speech sounds (especially vowels) of relatively short duration (as e.g. the English vowel sounds in `pat'', `pet'', `pit'', `pot'', putt'')

containing a large amount of shortening; therefore tender and easy to crumble or break into flakes

• “shortbread is a short crumbly cookie”
• “a short flaky pie crust”

less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so

• “a light pound”
• “a scant cup of sugar”
• “regularly gives short weight”

used of syllables that are unaccented or of relatively brief duration

(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range

• “a short memory”

lacking foresight or scope

• “a short view of the problem”
• “shortsighted policies”
• “shortsighted critics derided the plan”
• “myopic thinking”

unwilling to endure

• “she was short with the slower students”

quickly aroused to anger

• “a hotheaded commander”

most direct

• “took the shortest and most direct route to town”

marked by rude or peremptory shortness

• “try to cultivate a less brusque manner”
• “a curt reply”
• “the salesgirl was very short with him”

the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed

accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference

the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between second and third base

quickly and without warning

• “he stopped suddenly”

without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold

• “he made his fortune by selling short just before the crash”

clean across

• “the car”

at some point or distance before a goal is reached

• “he fell short of our expectations”

so as to interrupt

• “She took him up short before he could continue”

at a disadvantage

• “I was caught short”

tightly

• “she caught him up short on his lapel”

in a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner

• “he told me curtly to get on with it”
• “he talked short with everyone”
• “he said shortly that he didn”

cheat someone by not returning him enough money

create a short-circuit in