short
/ʃoɹt/ verb C1- To cause a short circuit in (something). · You should short the poles of the capacitor to discharge it before you work on it.
- To short circuit.
- To provide with an amount smaller than that agreed or labeled; to shortchange. · This is the third time I've caught them shorting us.
- 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.
He/she/it shorts · Past shorted · Past participle shorted · -ing form shorting
Verb forms
- Base form
- short
- He/she/it
- shorts
- Past
- shorted
- Past participle
- shorted
- -ing form
- shorting
Phrasal verbs and expressions
From the library
The field mouse, now that it was freed from its enemy, stopped short; and coming slowly up to the Woodman it said, in a squeaky little voice:
On the very threshold she stopped short, wheeled about, came back and sat down by the table, light and glow as effectually blotted out as if some one had clapped an extinguisher on her.
“Upon my word,” cried the old man, “you make short work of this kind of affair.
The flowers had been too strong for the huge beast and he had given up at last, and fallen only a short distance from the end of the poppy bed, where the sweet grass spread in beautiful green fields before them.
Other matches
Learn short in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.