Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SHORT, a. [Sax. sceort, scyrt; G. kurz; D. Sw. and Dan. kort; Fr. court; It. corto; L. curtus; Ir. gear; Russ. kortayu, to shorten. It is from cutting off or separating. Qu. Dan. skiör, Sw. sk(o with ring above it)r, brittle.]

1. Not long; not having great length or extension; ss, short distance; a short ferry; a short flight; a short piece of timber. The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it. Is. xxviii.
2. Not extended in time; not of long duration. The triumphing of the wicked is short. Job xx. Thess. ii.
3. Not of usual or sufficient length, reach or extent. Weak though I am of limb, and short of sight. Pope.
4. Not of long duration; repeated at small intervals of time; as, short breath. Dryden. Sidney.
5. Not of adequate extent or quantity; not reaching the point demanded, desired or expected; as, a quantity short of our expectations. Not therefore am I short / Of knowing what I ought. Milton.
6. Deficient; defective; imperfect. This account is short of the truth.
7. Not adequate; insufficient; scanty; as, provisions are short; a short allowance of water for the voyage.
8. Not sufficiently supplied; scantily furnished. The English were inferior in number, and grew short in their provisions. Hayward.
9. Not far distant in time; future. He commanded those who were appointed to attend him, to be ready by a short day. We now say, at short notice. In mercantile languages, a note or bill is made payable at short sight, that is, in a little time after being presented to the payer.
10. Not fetching a compass; as, in the phrase, to turn short.
11. Not going to the point intended; as, to stop short.
12. Defective in quantity; as, sheep short of their wool. Dryden.
13. Narrow; limited; not extended; not large or comprehensive. Their own short understandings reach / No further than the present. Rowe.
14. Brittle; friable; breaking all at once without splinters or shatters; as, marl so short that it can not be wrought into a ball. Mortimer.
15. Not bending. The lance broke short. Dryden.
16. Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; severe. I asked him a question, to which he gave a short answer. To be short, to be scantily supplied; as, to be short of bread or water. To come short, to fail; not to do what is demanded or expected, or what is necessary for the purpose; applied to persons. We all come short of perfect obedience to God's will. #2. Not to reach or obtain. Rom. iii. #3. To fail; to be insufficient. Provisions come short. To cut short, to abridge; to contract; to make too small or defective; also, to destroy or consume. 2 Kings x. To fall short, to fail; to be inadequate or scanty; as, provisions fall short; money falls short. #2. To fail; not to do or accomplish; as, to fall short in duty. #3. To be less. The measure falls short of the estimate. To stop short, to stop at once; also, to stop without reaching the point intended. To turn short, to turn on the spot occupied; to turn without making a compass. For turning short he struck with all his might. Dryden. To be taken short, to be seized with urgent necessity. Swift. In short, in few words; briefly; to sum up or close in a few words.

SHORT, adv.

Not long; as, short-enduring joy; a short-breathed man. Dryden. Arbuthnot. In connection with verbs, short is a modifying word, or used adverbially; as, to come short, &c.

SHORT, n.

A summary account; as, the short of the matter. The short and long in our play is preferred. Shak.

SHORT, v.t.

1. To shorten.
2. v. i. To fail; to decrease. [Not in use.]

SHORT'-BREATH-ED, a.

Having short breath or quick respiration.

SHORT'COM-ING, n.

1. A failing of the usual produce quantity or amount; as of a crop. Chalmers.
2. A failure of full performance, as of duty.

SHORT'-DAT-ED, a. [shod and date.]

Having little time to run. Sandys.

SHORT'-DRAWN, a.

Being of short breathing; imperfectly inspired, as breath.

SHORT'EN, v.i. [short'n.]

1. To become short or shorter. The day shortens in northern latitudes from June to December.
2. To contract; as, a cord shortens by being wet; metallic rod shortens by cold.

SHORT'EN, v.t. [short'n; Sax. scyrtan.]

1. To make short in measure, extent or time; as, to shorten distance; to shorten a road; to shorten days of calamity. Matth. xxiv.
2. To abridge; to lessen; as, to shorten labor or work.
3. To curtail; as, to shorten the hair by clipping.
4. To contract; to lessen; to diminish in extent or amount; as, to shorten sail; to shorten an allowance of provisions.
5. To confine; to restrain. Here where the subject is so fruitful, I am shortened by my chain. Dryden.
6. To lop; to deprive. The youth – shortened of his ears. Dryden.
7. To make paste short or friable, with butter or lard.

SHORT'EN-ED, pp.

Made shorter; abridged; contracted.

SHORT'EN-ING, n.

Something used in cookery to make paste short or friable, as butter or lard.

SHORT'EN-ING, ppr.

Making shorter; contracting.

SHORT'-HAND, n. [short and hand.]

Short writing; a compendious method of writing by substituting characters, abbreviations or symbols for words; otherwise called stenography. Locke.

SHORT'-JOINT-ED, a. [short and joint.]

A horse is said to be short-jointed, when the pastern is too short. Encyc.

SHORT'-LIV-ED, a. [short and live.]

Not living or lasting long; being of short continuance; as, a short-lived race beings; short-lived pleasure; short-lived passion. Dryden. Addison.

SHORT'LY, adv.

1. Quickly; soon; in a little time. The armies came shortly in view of each other. Clarendon.
2. In few words; briefly; as, to express ideas more shortly in verse than in prose. Pope.

SHORT'NER, n.

He or that which shortens. Swift.

SHORT'NESS, n.

1. The quality of being short in space or time; little length or little duration; as, the shortness of a journey or of distance; the shortness of the days in winter; the shortness of life.
2. Fewness of words; brevity; conciseness; as, the shortness of an essay. The prayers of the church, by reason of their shortness, are easy for the memory.
3. Want of reach or the power of retention; as, the shortness of the memory. Bacon.
4. Deficiency; imperfection; limited extent; as, the shortness of our reason. Glanville.

SHORT'-RIB, n. [short and rib.]

One of the lower ribs; a rib shorter than the others, below the sternum; a false rib. Wiseman.

SHORTS, n. [plur.]

The bran and coarse part of meal, in mixture.

SHORT-SIGHT', n.

Short-sightedness; myopy; vision accurate only when the object is near. Good.

SHORT-SIGHT'ED, a. [short and sight.]

1. Not able to see far; having limited vision; in a literal sense.
2. Not able to look far into futurity; not able to understand things deep or remote; of limited intellect.

SHORT-SIGHT'ED-NESS, n.

1. A defect in vision, consisting in the inability to see things at a distance, or at the distance to which the sight ordinarily extends.
2. Defective or limited intellectual sight; inability to see far into futurity or into things deep or abstruse. Addison.

SHORT'-WAISTED, a. [short and waist.]

Having a short waist or body. Dryden.