browse words by letter
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
shortest |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Short \Short\, a. [Compar. {Shorter}; superl. {Shortest}.] [OE. short, schort, AS scort, sceort akin to OHG. scurz, Icel. skorta to be short of to lack, and perhaps to E. shear, v. t. Cf {Shirt}.] 1. Not long; having brief length or linear extension; as a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight. The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it --Isa. xxviii. 20. 2. Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as short breath. The life so short, the craft so long to learn. --Chaucer. To short absense I could yield. --Milton. 3. Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as a short supply of provisions, or of water. 4. Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking; not coming up to a resonable, or the ordinary, standard; -- usually with of as to be short of money. We shall be short in our provision. --Shak. 5. Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up as to a measure or standard; as an account which is short of the trith. 6. Not distant in time; near at hand. Marinell was sore offended That his departure thence should be so short. --Spenser. He commanded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready by a short day --Clarendon. 7. Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory. Their own short understandings reach No farther than the present. --Rowe. 8. Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); -- with of Hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse them again to war. --Landor. 9. Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as he gave a short answer to the question. 10. (Cookery) Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as short pastry. 11. (Metal) Brittle. Note: Metals that are brittle when hot are called ?ot-short; as cast iron may be hot-short, owing to the presence of sulphur. Those that are brittle when cold are called cold-short; as cast iron may be cold-short, on account of the presence of phosphorus. 12. (Stock Exchange) Engaging or engaged to deliver what is not possessed; as short contracts; to be short of stock. See The shorts, under {Short}, n., and To sell short, under {Short}, adv Note: In mercantile transactions, a note or bill is sometimes made payable at short sight, that is in a little time after being presented to the payer. 13. (Phon.) Not prolonged, or relatively less prolonged, in utterance; -- opposed to {long}, and applied to vowels or to syllables. In English, the long and short of the same letter are not in most cases, the long and short of the same sound; thus the i in ill is the short sound, not of i in isle, but of ee in eel, and the e in pet is the short sound of a in pate, etc See {Quantity}, and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect]22, 30. Note: Short is much used with participles to form numerous self-explaining compounds; as short-armed, short-billed, short-fingered, short-haired, short-necked, short-sleeved, short-tailed, short-winged, short-wooled, etc {At short notice}, in a brief time; promptly. {Short rib} (Anat.), one of the false ribs. {Short suit} (Whist), any suit having only three cards, or less than three --R. A. Proctor. {To come short}, {To cut short}, {To fall short}, etc See under {Come}, {Cut}, etc From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: shortest adj : most direct; "took the shortest and most direct route to town" [syn: {short}]
more about shortest
This work is licensed under a
