short - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Proto-West Germanic *skurt

English short

From Middle English schort, short, from Old English sċeort, sċort (“short”), from Proto-West Germanic *skurt, from Proto-Germanic *skurtaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-. Doublet of shirt, skirt, and curt.

Cognates

Cognate with Scots short, schort (“short”), French court, Dutch kort, German kurz, Old High German scurz (“short”) (whence Middle High German schurz), Old Norse skorta (“to lack”) (whence Danish skorte), Albanian shkurt (“short, brief”), Latin curtus (“shortened, incomplete”) and Proto-Slavic *kortъkъ. See more at shirt.

short (comparative shorter, superlative shortest)

  1. Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
    Synonyms: low, narrow, slim, shallow
    Antonyms: long, tall, high, broad, deep
  2. Of a person, living being, or object, having a comparatively small height.
    Synonyms: little, pint-sized, petite, (slang) titchy
    Antonym: tall
    • 2022 September 22, HarryBlank, “Mind Over Matter”, in SCP Foundation‎[1], archived from the original on 23 May 2024:
      Nhung Ngo had the shortest legs at Site-43. She was the shortest member of staff, two inches beneath the positively elfin Delfina Ibanez, and yet Lillian found her inexplicably difficult to shake. Power-walking down the halls didn't do the trick, as it always did when Wettle-dodging, since the diminutive headshrink kept disappearing into commissaries or service corridors or even other people's offices and emerging, smiling, in front of her.
  3. Having little duration.
    Synonyms: brief, concise
    Antonym: long
    Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it’s been at least twenty minutes long.
    • 1980, Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave, page 230:
      The results of this generalized speedup of the corporate metabolism are multiple: shorter product life cycles, more leasing and renting, more frequent buying and selling, more ephemeral consumption patterns, […]
    • 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist‎[2], volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 February 2013, page 172:
      Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.
    • 2025 January 23, Kristen Rogers, “People with ADHD have shorter life expectancy and higher risk of mental health issues, study finds”, in CNN‎[3]:
      Having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is associated with a shorter life expectancy and a greater risk of mental health issues, according to a new study of more than 30,000 people with the disorder in the United Kingdom.
  4. (followed by for) Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).
    "Phone" is short for "telephone" and "asap" short for "as soon as possible".
  5. (cricket) Of a fielder or fielding position, that is relatively close to the batsman.
    Antonym: long
  6. (cricket) Of a ball, bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.
  7. (golf) Of an approach shot or putt, that falls short of the green or the hole.
  8. (gambling) Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.
  9. (baking) Of pastries or (metallurgy) of materials, brittle, crumbly.
    • 2013, Heston Blumenthal, Historic Heston, →ISBN, page 122:
      I chose to interpret the references to butter and sugar as indicating that a short pastry was required. (Later editions suggest a biscuit-like texture.)
  10. Abrupt, brief, pointed, curt.
    He gave a short answer to the question.
  1. Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.
    a short supply of provisions
  2. Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.
    to be short of money
    I'd lend you the cash but I'm a little short at present.
    The cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.
  3. Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.
    an account which is short of the truth
  1. (colloquial) Undiluted; neat.
  1. (obsolete) Not distant in time; near at hand.
  2. (finance) Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.
    Antonym: long
    Coordinate term: long
    short position
    I'm short in General Motors because I think their sales are plunging.
  3. (by extension) Doubtful of, skeptical of.
  4. (finance, dated) Of money, given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.
    Antonym: long

having a small distance between ends or edges

of a person, of comparatively small height

having little duration

constituting an abbreviation or shortened form

cricket: relatively close to the batsman

cricket: bouncing relatively far from the batsman

of pastries: brittle, crumbly

abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant

limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty

insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking

deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard

not distant in time; near at hand

being in a financial investment position to profit of falling prices

Translations to be checked

short (not comparable)

  1. Abruptly, curtly, briefly.
    They had to stop short to avoid hitting the dog in the street.
    He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.
    The boss got a message and cut the meeting short.
  2. Unawares.
    The recent developments at work caught them short.
    We were caught short by the sudden hailstorm.
  3. Without achieving a goal or requirement.
    His speech fell short of what was expected.
  4. (cricket, of the manner of bounce of a cricket ball) Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.
  5. (finance) With a negative ownership position.
    We went short most finance companies in July.

without achieving a goal or requirement

cricket: bouncing relatively far from the batsman

finance: with a negative ownership position

Translations to be checked

short (plural shorts)

  1. A short circuit.
    The circuit breaker keeps tripping because there's a short in the wiring.
  2. A short film.
    • 2012 July 12, Sam Adams, AV Club, Ice Age: Continental Drift‎[4]:
      Preceded by a Simpsons short shot in 3-D—perhaps the only thing more superfluous than a fourth Ice Age movie—Ice Age: Continental Drift finds a retinue of vaguely contemporaneous animals coping with life in the post-Pangaea age.
    1. (Internet) A short-form vertical video.
  3. A short version of a garment in a particular size.
    38 short suits fit me right off the rack.
    Do you have that size in a short?
  4. (baseball) A shortstop.
    Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.
  5. (finance) A short seller.
    The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.
  6. (finance) A short sale or short position.
    He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.
    • 2025 August 25, Julie Creswell, “Krispy Kreme Bets on Big-Box Stores to Stay Fresh”, in The New York Times‎[5], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
      The company’s stock is one of the largest shorts in the market, meaning many investors are betting it could fall even farther.
  7. A summary account.
  8. (phonetics) A short phone (such as a vowel) or syllable.
    • 1877, Henry Sweet, A Handbook of Phonetics, page 18:
      If we compare the nearest conventional shorts and longs in English, as in ‘bit’ and ‘beat’, ‘not’ and ‘naught’, we find that the short vowels are generally wide (i, ɔ), the long narrow (i, ɔ), besides being generally diphthongic as well.
  9. (programming) An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.
  10. (US, slang) An automobile.
    crack shorts ― to break into automobiles
  1. (Philippines) Ellipsis of short bond paper.

short version of a garment in a particular size

programming: type of integer variable

short (third-person singular simple present shorts, present participle shorting, simple past and past participle shorted)

  1. (transitive) To cause a short circuit in (something).
    You should short the poles of the capacitor to discharge it before you work on it.
  2. (intransitive, of an electrical circuit) To short circuit.
  3. (transitive, informal) To provide with an amount smaller than that agreed or labeled; to shortchange.
    This is the third time I've caught them shorting us.
    • 1991 August 24, Maridee BonaDea, quoting Brian Freeman, “Pomo Afro Homos On The Road”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 6, page 9:
      It's hard now. The NEA, state and city budgets are messed up and it's the small artists like us that are the ones getting shorted.
  4. (transitive, business) To sell something, especially securities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; to sell short.
  5. (obsolete) To shorten.

to cause a short circuit

intransitive: to short circuit

business: to sell something one does not own at the moment

short

  1. Deficient in.
    Synonym: lacking
    We are short a few men on the second shift.
    He's short common sense.
  2. (finance) Having a negative position in.
    I don’t want to be short the market going into the weekend.

finance: having a negative position in

Borrowed through Vulgar Latin from Latin sors, sortem.[1]

short m (plural shórte, definite shórti, definite plural shórtet) (uncountable)

  1. drawing (action where the outcome is selected by chance using a draw)
  2. (originally southern Gheg, Tirana) sweepstakes, lot, portion
  3. (in the plural) stake, share, inheritance
    Synonym: hise
  4. (figurative) luck
    Synonym: fat
  5. (figurative) spouse, consort
    Synonyms: bashkëshort, burrë, grua
  6. (archaic) fortune-telling
  1. ^ Orel, Vladimir (1998), “short”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden; Boston; Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 426

From English short, in the sense of a short circuit. Cognate with Taiwanese Hokkien 秀逗.

Note:

short

  1. (Cantonese) insane; crazy
    short short哋 [Cantonese] ― sot1 sot1 dei6-2 [Jyutping] ― a bit crazy

Dialectal synonyms of 瘋 (“mad; crazy; insane”) [map]

Variety Location Words edit
Classical Chinese 痴, 狂, 癲
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 瘋, 狂, 瘋癲, 瘋狂
Northeastern Mandarin Beijing 瘋, 有毛病
Taiwan 瘋, 神經病
Singapore 神經病, 有毛病
Jiaoliao Mandarin Yantai (Muping) 痴
Central Plains Mandarin Luoyang 瘋
Xi'an 瘋
Lanyin Mandarin Ürümqi 瘋
Southwestern Mandarin Wuhan 八面威, 八面
Guiyang 瘋
Liuzhou 癲
Jianghuai Mandarin Yangzhou 瘋
Cantonese Guangzhou 癲, 黐線, 黐筋, 黐孖筋, short
Hong Kong 癲, 黐線, 黐筋, 黐孖筋, 黐膠花, short, 黐總掣, 黐大掣
Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) 癲, 黐線
Penang (Guangfu) 癲, 黐線
Singapore (Guangfu) 癲, 黐線
Gan Nanchang 瘋
Hakka Meixian 癲
Eastern Min Fuzhou 癲, 癲脬
Southern Min Xiamen 痟
Quanzhou 痟
Yongchun 痟
Zhangzhou 痟, 魔
Zhao'an 痟
Tainan 痟
Penang (Hokkien) 痟
Singapore (Hokkien) 痟
Manila (Hokkien) 痟
Chaozhou 痟
Shantou 痟
Shantou (Chenghai) 痟
Shantou (Chaoyang) 痟
Jieyang 痟
Haifeng 癲
Singapore (Teochew) 痟
Leizhou 痟神
Wenchang 發痟
Singapore (Hainanese) 發痟
Puxian Min Putian 痟
Xianyou 痟
Wu Shanghai 痴
Shanghai (Chongming) 痴
Danyang 瘋
Hangzhou 瘋
Wenzhou 癲
Jinhua 癲
Xiang Loudi 瘋

short

  1. (Cantonese, of people) to become insane; to become crazy
  2. (Cantonese, of electronics) to malfunction
  3. (Cantonese, electrical engineering) to short-circuit

Unadapted borrowing from English shorts.

short m (plural shorts)

  1. shorts, short trousers (UK)
    Avec un pantalon, j'ai moins froid aux jambes qu'avec un short.
    With trousers on, my legs are not as cold as with shorts on.

Unadapted borrowing from English short.

short m (invariable)

  1. short (short film etc.)

short

  1. alternative form of schort

Proto-West Germanic *skurt

English short

Old English -as

Middle English -es

English -s

Portuguese short

Unadapted borrowing from English shorts. Doublet of curto.

short m (plural shorts)

  1. (Brazil) shorts (pants that do not go lower than the knees)
    Synonyms: calção, calções, shorts

Unadapted borrowing from English shorts.

short m (plural shorts)

  1. shorts

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.