Short

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, &c.: 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, &c., not having in possession 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, &c.: 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, less than the regular allowance; Short′-and, the character '&,' the ampersand.—adj. Short′-armed, having short arms, not reaching far.—ns. Short′-bill, one having less 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 dress of young children after the first long clothes.—v.t. Short′-coat, to dress 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′-cross, the short cross-bar of a printer's chase.—adjs. Short′-cut, cut short instead of in long shreds—of tobacco, &c.—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′-grassed (Shak.), provided or covered with short grass.—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, &c.—ns. Short′hander, a stenographer; Short′-horn, one of a breed of cattle having very short horns—Durham and Teeswater.—adj. Short′-horned.—n. Short′-hose, the stockings of the Highland dress, reaching to the knee, as opposed to the long hose formerly worn by Englishmen.—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′ness; Short′-pull, a light impression on a hand-press; 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: heedless.—adv. Short′-sight′edly.—n. Short′-sight′edness.—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 shortness 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. curtus.]