short

(noun) the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed.

(noun) accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference. Synonyms: short circuit.

(noun) the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between second and third base. Synonyms: shortstop.

(verb) cheat someone by not returning him enough money. Synonyms: short-change.

(verb) create a short circuit in. Synonyms: short-circuit.

(adj) primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration. Synonyms: short (vs. long). Examples: "A short life." "A short flight." "A short holiday." "A short story." "Only a few short months."

(adj) (primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in length. Synonyms: short (vs. long). Examples: "Short skirts." "Short hair." "The board was a foot short." "A short toss."

(adj) low in stature; not tall. Synonyms: short (vs. tall), little. Examples: "He was short and stocky." "Short in stature." "A short smokestack." "A little man."

(adj) not sufficient to meet a need. Synonyms: inadequate, poor. Examples: "An inadequate income." "A poor salary." "Money is short." "On short rations." "Food is in short supply." "Short on experience."

(adj) (of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range. Synonyms: unretentive (vs. retentive), forgetful. Examples: "A short memory."

(adj) not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices. Synonyms: short (vs. long). Examples: "A short sale." "Short in cotton."

(adj) of speech sounds or syllables of relatively short duration. Synonyms: short (vs. long). Examples: "The english vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt' are short."

(adj) less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so. Synonyms: light, scant(predicate). Examples: "A light pound." "A scant cup of sugar." "Regularly gives short weight."

(adj) lacking foresight or scope. Synonyms: shortsighted, unforesightful, myopic. Examples: "A short view of the problem." "Shortsighted policies." "Shortsighted critics derided the plan." "Myopic thinking."

(adj) tending to crumble or break into flakes due to a large amount of shortening. Examples: "Shortbread is a short crumbly cookie." "A short flaky pie crust."

(adj) marked by rude or peremptory shortness. Synonyms: brusque, brusk, curt, short(predicate). Examples: "Try to cultivate a less brusque manner." "A curt reply." "The salesgirl was very short with him."

(adv) quickly and without warning. Synonyms: abruptly, suddenly, dead. Examples: "He stopped suddenly."

(adv) without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold. Examples: "He made his fortune by selling short just before the crash."

(adv) clean across. Examples: "The car's axle snapped short."

(adv) at some point or distance before a goal is reached. Examples: "He fell short of our expectations."

(adv) so as to interrupt. Examples: "She took him up short before he could continue."

(adv) at a disadvantage. Synonyms: unawares. Examples: "I was caught short."

(adv) in a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner. Synonyms: curtly, shortly. Examples: "He told me curtly to get on with it." "He talked short with everyone." "He said shortly that he didn't like it."