shortax (shortaks)

A battle-ax with a short handle, adapted for wielding with one hand, and especially for mounted knights: distinguished from the poleax, which was e entially the arm of a foot-soldier. short-billed (short'bild), a. In ornith., having a short bill; brevirostrate or brevirostral: specifically applied to many birds: as, the short billed kittiwake, Ri a brevirostris; the short billed marsh-wren, Cistothorus stellar is. short-bread (short bred), n. Same as short cake ( a ). [Scotch.] All kinds of cake were there, and soda-scones, short bread , marmalade, black-currant jam, and the like. shortening It would argue a just sensiblene ...of our unworthy shortcomings , in not having more strenuously endeavoured to prevent this course of defection, if for this we were mourning. M'Ward, Contendings (1723), p. 222. I. have not Completed half my task; and so at times The thought of my shortcomings in this life Falls like a shadow on the life to come. Long fellow, Golden Legend, iv. Very little achievement is required in order to pity another man's shortcomings. George Eliot, Middle march, xxi. short-dated (short'dated), a. Having little time to run. The course of thy short - dated life. Sandys , Paraphrase upon Eccles., ix. short-drawn (short'drân), a . Drawn in incompletely; imperfectly inspired: as, short - drawn breath. short-eared (short'ērd), a . In ornith ., having short plum i corns: as, the short - eared owl, Asio accipitrinus , formerly Strix brachyotus or Bra chyotus palustris . shortelichet, adv. An obsolete variant of shortly. shorten (shor'tn), v. [ when wet. Futurity still shortens , and time present sucks in time to come. Sir T. Browne, Christ. Mor., iii. 13. The short'ning winter day is near a close. Burns, Cottar's Saturday Night. 2. To make anything short: used with in in the nautical phrase to shorten in on the cable, to heave in short or shorter.-3. To come short; fail. They had at that present but one Minister, nor neuer had but two, and they so shortned of their promises that but onely for meere pity they would haue forsaken them. Quoted in Capt . John Smith's Works, II. 163. To shorten in, in hort ., to prune. Some people imagine that when they have taken a pair of hedge shears or some such instrument, and shorn off the ends of the shoots on the outside of the tree indis criminately, they are shortening in ; and so they are, as they would a hedge! P. Barry , Fruit Garden, p. 257. II. trans. 1. To make short or shorter; abridge; curtail: as, to shorten hours of work; to shorten the skirt of a dre . I am sorry that by hanging thee I can But shorten thy life one week. Shak ., W. T., iv. 4. 433. But here and elsewhere often, when he telleth tales out of Schoole, the good mans tongue is shortned . Purchas , Pilgrimage, p. 90. In pity to us, God has shortened and bounded our view. Bp . Atterbury , Sermons, II. xxii. The race that shortens its weapons lengthens its boundaries. O. W. Holmes, Autocrat, i. 2. To make appear short: as, pleasant companionship shortens a journey; a concave mirror shortens the face. Arbuthnot . W. Black , In Far Lochaber, ii. short-breathed (short bretht), a . Having short breath or hurried respiration; dyspnœic. One strange draught prescribed by Hippo crates for a short - breathed man is half a gallon of hydromel with a little vinegar. shortcake (short'kāk), n. A rich crisp teacake, made short with butter, sweetened, and baked rather thin. (a) A broad, flat, thin cake made crisp and short with lard or butter, and served up hot. (b) Pie-crust or pastry baked in small cakes and eaten without the filling. (c) A thin, light, tender cake, shortened, sometimes sweetened, and served either hot or cold. It is often prepared in layers with fruit between them, to be eaten with cream, as strawberry shortcake , peach short cake, etc. [U. S.] Sweet cakes and short cakes , ginger cakes and honey cakes, and the whole family of cakes. IMG:content-0921.png:[blocks in formation] 4. To take in; contract; le en in extent or amount: as, to shorten sail; to shorten an allowance. Irving , Sketch-Book, p. 440. short-circuit (shôrt'sėr"kit), v. i. To complete an electric circuit by a conductor of low res is- tance; introduce a shunt of low resistance. short-cloak (short'klōk), n. A British geomet- 5. To check; confine; restrain. Grind their joints With dry convulsions, shorten up their sinews With aged cramps. Shak ., Tempest, iv. 1. 260. Here, where the subject is so fruitful, I am shortened by Dryden. my chain. rid moth, Cidaria picata : more fully called short-cloak carpet. short-coarse (short'kōrs), n. One of the grades 6. To deprive. of wool into which a fleece is divided. short-coat (short'kōt), v . t. [ coat - s (see under short , a.).] To dre in the first short garments, so as to leave the legs free for stand- 7. To cause to come short or fail. ing and walking; put short clothes on: said of infants. Dishonest with lopped arms the youth appears, Spoiled of his nose, and shortened of his ears. Dryden, Æneid, vi. 669. A spoiled, pettish baby, just short - coated , could not have befooled me more. E. S. Sheppard , Counterparts, xxxviii. "I really do believe," continued the young matron slowly, "that we shall have to short - coat him before the three months are out." Mrs. L. B. Walford , The Baby's Grandmother, xxiv. Manitoba is as yet in its headstrong youth, and the Athenæum, No. 3252, p. 238. North-West Territories are waiting to be short coated.