7 ADJ If someone or something is or stops short of a place, they have not quite reached it. If they are or fall short of an amount, they have not quite achieved it. □ [+ of ] He stopped a hundred yards short of the building.
8 PHRASE Short of a particular thing means except for that thing or without actually doing that thing. □ Short of climbing railings four metres high, there was no way into the garden from this road.
9 ADV [ADV after v] If something is cut short or stops short , it is stopped before people expect it to or before it has finished. □ His glittering career was cut short by a heart attack.
10 ADJ If a name or abbreviation is short for another name, it is the short version of that name. □ [+ for ] Her friend Kes (short for Kesewa) was in tears. □ [+ for ] 'O.O.B.E.' is short for 'Out Of Body Experience'.
11 ADJ If you have a short temper, you get angry very easily. □ …an awkward, self-conscious woman with a short temper.
12 → see also short-tempered
13 ADJ [v-link ADJ ] If you are short with someone, you speak briefly and rather rudely to them, because you are impatient or angry. □ [+ with ] She seemed nervous or tense, and she was definitely short with me.
14 PHRASE If a person or thing is called something for short , that is the short version of their name. □ Opposite me was a woman called Jasminder (Jazzy for short).
15 PHRASE If you go short of something, especially food, you do not have as much of it as you want or need. □ [+ of ] Some people may manage their finances badly and therefore have to go short of essentials.
16 PHRASE You use in short when you have been giving a lot of details and you want to give a conclusion or summary. □ Try tennis, badminton or windsurfing. In short, anything challenging.
17 PHRASE You use nothing short of or little short of to emphasize how great or extreme something is. For example, if you say that something is nothing short of a miracle or nothing short of disastrous, you are emphasizing that it is a miracle or it is disastrous. [EMPHASIS ] □ The results are nothing short of magnificent.
18 PHRASE If you say that someone is, for example, several cards short of a full deck or one sandwich short of a picnic , you think they are stupid, foolish, or crazy. [INFORMAL ]
19 PHRASE If someone or something is short on a particular good quality, they do not have as much of it as you think they should have. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ The proposals were short on detail.
20 PHRASE If someone stops short of doing something, they come close to doing it but do not actually do it. □ He stopped short of explicitly criticizing the government.
21 PHRASE If workers are put on short time , they are asked to work fewer hours than the normal working week, because their employer can not afford to pay them a full-time wage. □ Workers across the country have been put on short time because of the slump in demand. □ Most manufacturers have had to introduce short-time working.
22 PHRASE If something pulls you up short or brings you up short , it makes you suddenly stop what you are doing. □ The name on the gate pulled me up short.
23 PHRASE If you make short work of someone or something, you deal with them or defeat them very quickly. [INFORMAL ] □ Agassi made short work of his opponent.
24 short of breath → see breath
25 at short notice → see notice
26 to sell someone short → see sell
27 to get short shrift → see shrift
28 to cut a long story short → see story
29 to draw the short straw → see straw
30 in short supply → see supply
31 in the short term → see term
➋ short /ʃɔː r t/ (shorts )
1 N‑PLURAL [oft a pair of N ] Shorts are trousers with very short legs, that people wear in hot weather or for taking part in sports. □ …two women in bright cotton shorts and tee shirts.
2 N‑PLURAL [oft a pair of N ] Shorts are men's underpants with short legs. [mainly AM ]
3 N‑COUNT A short is a small amount of a strong alcoholic drink such as whisky, gin, or vodka, rather than a weaker alcoholic drink that you can drink in larger quantities. [mainly BRIT ]
4 N‑COUNT A short is a short film, especially one that is shown before the main film at the cinema.
short|age ◆◇◇ /ʃɔː r t I dʒ/ (shortages ) N‑VAR [n N ] If there is a shortage of something, there is not enough of it. □ [+ of ] A shortage of funds is preventing the U.N. from monitoring relief. □ Vietnam is suffering from a food shortage. COLLOCATIONS shortage NOUN
noun + shortage : food, housing, staff, water; skill
adjective + shortage : acute, chronic, critical, severe; global, nationwide, widespread, worldwide
verb + shortage : address, experience, face; ease, overcome; cause, create SYNONYMS shortage NOUN
deficiency: They did blood tests on him for signs of vitamin deficiency.