Short

short, adj. ( comp. Short′er , superl. Short′est ) not long in time or space: not tall: near at hand, early in date: scanty, lacking, insufficient: in error, deficient in wisdom, grasp, memory, .: narrow: abrupt, curt, sharp, uncivil: brittle, crumbling away readily: not prolonged in utterance, unaccented: ( coll. ) undiluted with water, neat: falling below a certain standard (with of ): of stocks, ., not having in po e ion when selling, not able to meet one's engagements, pertaining to short stocks or to those who have sold short.— adv. not long.— n. a summary account: a short time or syllable: whatever is deficient in number, quantity, .: a short sale, one who has made such: ( pl. ) small clothes, knee-breeches: the bran and coarse part of meal, in mixture.— ns. Short′age , deficiency; Short′-allow′ance , le than the regular allowance; Short′-and , the character '&,' the ampersand.— adj. Short′-armed , having short arms, not reaching far.— ns. Short′-bill , one having le than ten days to run; Short′-cake , a rich tea-cake made short and crisp with butter or lard and baked—also Short′-bread ( Scot. ): ( U.S. ) a light cake, prepared in layers with fruit between, served with cream; Short′-cir′cuit ( electr. ), a path of comparatively low resistance between two points of a circuit.— n.pl. Short′-clothes , small clothes, the dre of young children after the first long clothes.— v.t. Short′-coat , to dre in short-coats.— n.pl. Short′-coats , the shortened skirts of a child when the first long clothes are left off.— n. Short′coming , act of coming or falling short of produce or result: neglect of, or failure in, duty.— n.pl. Short′-comm′ons (see Common ).— n. Short′-cro , the short cro -bar of a printer's chase.— adjs. Short′-cut , cut short instead of in long shreds—of tobacco, .—also n. ; Short′-dāt′ed , having short or little time to run from its date, as a bill.— n. Short′-divi′sion , a method of division with a divisor not larger than 12—opp. to Long-division .— v.t. Short′en , to make short: to deprive: to make friable.— v.i. to become short or shorter: to contract.— n. Short′-gown , a loose jacket with a skirt, worn by women, a bed-gown.— adj. Short′-gra ed ( Shak. ), provided or covered with short gra .— n. Short′hand , an art by which writing is made shorter and easier, so as to keep pace with speaking.— adj. Short′-hand′ed , not having the proper number of servants, work-people, .— ns. Short′hander , a stenographer; Short′-horn , one of a breed of cattle having very short horns— Durham and Tees water .— adj. Short′-horned .— n. Short′-hose , the stockings of the Highland dre , reaching to the knee, as opposed to the long hose formerly worn by English men.— adjs. Short′-joint′ed , short between the joints: having a short pastern; Short′-legged ( Shak. ), having short legs; Short′-lived , living or lasting only for a short time.— adv. Short′ly , in a short time: in a brief manner: quickly: soon.— ns. Short′-mē′tre (see Metre ); Short′ne ; Short′-pull , a light impre ion on a hand-pre ; Short′-rib , one of the lower ribs, not reaching to the breast-bone, a false or floating rib.— adj. Short′-sight′ed , having sight extending but a short distance: unable to see far: of weak intellect: heedle .— adv. Short′-sight′edly .— n. Short′-sight′edne .— adjs. Short′-spō′ken , sharp and curt in speech; Short′-stā′ple , having the fibre short.— n. Short′-stop , the player at base-ball between the second and third base.— adjs. Short′-tem′pered , easily put into a rage; Short′-wind′ed , affected with shortne of wind or breath; Short′-wit′ted , having little wit, judgment, or intellect.— At short sight , meaning that a bill is payable soon after being presented; Be taken short ( coll .), to be suddenly seized with a desire to evacuate fæces; Come, Cut, Fall, short (see Come , Cut , Fall ); In short , in a few words; Make short work of , to settle some difficulty or opposition promptly; Take up short , to check or to answer curtly; The long and short , the whole. [A.S. sceort ; Old High Ger. scurz ; the Dut. and Sw. kort , Ger. kurz , are borrowed from L. curt us .]