shortcoming (shortkum"ing)

[Verbal n. of come short (see under come ).] 1. A falling off of the usual produce, quantity, or amount, as of a crop.-2. A failure of performance, as of duty; a coming short; a delinquency. By the discovery We shall be shorten'd in our aim, which was To take in many towns ere almost Rome Should know we were afoot. Shak ., Cor., 1. 2. 23. 8. To make short or friable, as pastry with butter or lard.-9. To pronounce or measure as short: as, to shorten a vowel or syllable.To shorten sail. See saill. shortener (short'nėr), n. [ The gout... is not usually reckoned a shortener of life. Swift , Inquiry into the Behaviour of the Queen's Last [Ministry, ii. shortening (short'ning), n. In cookery , lard, butter, or other substance used to make pastry short or flaky. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: The Century dictionary shorthand