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.
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The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch
himself on it. --Isa. xxviii.
20.
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2. Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not
protracted; as, short breath.
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The life so short, the craft so long to learn.
--Chaucer.
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To short absense I could yield. --Milton.
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3. Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as,
a short supply of provisions, or of water.
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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.
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We shall be short in our provision. --Shak.
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5. Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a
measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the
trith.
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6. Not distant in time; near at hand.
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Marinell was sore offended
That his departure thence should be so short.
--Spenser.
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He commanded those who were appointed to attend him
to be ready by a short day. --Clarendon.
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7. Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive;
narrow; not tenacious, as memory.
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Their own short understandings reach
No farther than the present. --Rowe.
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8. Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or
equivalent; less (than); -- with of.
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Hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse
them again to war. --Landor.
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9. Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short
answer to the question.
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10. (Cookery) Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth;
crisp; as, short pastry.
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11. (Metal) Brittle.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Cut \Cut\ (k[u^]t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cut; p. pr. & vb. n.
Cutting.] [OE. cutten, kitten, ketten; prob. of Celtic
origin; cf. W. cwtau to shorten, curtail, dock, cwta
bobtailed, cwt tail, skirt, Gael. cutaich to shorten,
curtail, dock, cutach short, docked, cut a bobtail, piece,
Ir. cut a short tail, cutach bobtailed. Cf. Coot.]
1. To separate the parts of with, or as with, a sharp
instrument; to make an incision in; to gash; to sever; to
divide.
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You must cut this flesh from off his breast. --Shak.
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Before the whistling winds the vessels fly,
With rapid swiftness cut the liquid way. --Pope.
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2. To sever and cause to fall for the purpose of gathering;
to hew; to mow or reap.
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Thy servants can skill to cut timer. --2. Chron.
ii. 8
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3. To sever and remove by cutting; to cut off; to dock; as,
to cut the hair; to cut the nails.
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4. To castrate or geld; as, to cut a horse.
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5. To form or shape by cutting; to make by incision, hewing,
etc.; to carve; to hew out.
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Why should a man. whose blood is warm within,
Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster? --Shak.
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Loopholes cut through thickest shade. --Milton.
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6. To wound or hurt deeply the sensibilities of; to pierce;
to lacerate; as, sarcasm cuts to the quick.
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The man was cut to the heart. --Addison.
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7. To intersect; to cross; as, one line cuts another at right
angles.
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8. To refuse to recognize; to ignore; as, to cut a person in
the street; to cut one's acquaintance. [Colloq.]
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9. To absent one's self from; as, to cut an appointment, a
recitation. etc. [Colloq.]
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An English tradesman is always solicitous to cut the
shop whenever he can do so with impunity. --Thomas
Hamilton.
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10. (Cricket) To deflect (a bowled ball) to the off, with a
chopping movement of the bat.
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11. (Billiards, etc.) To drive (an object ball) to either
side by hitting it fine on the other side with the cue
ball or another object ball.
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12. (Lawn Tennis, etc.) To strike (a ball) with the racket
inclined or struck across the ball so as to put a certain
spin on the ball.
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13. (Croquet) To drive (a ball) to one side by hitting with
another ball.
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To cut a caper. See under Caper.
To cut the cards, to divide a pack of cards into portions,
in order to determine the deal or the trump, or to change
the cards to be dealt.
To cut both ways, to have effects both advantageous and
disadvantageous.
To cut corners, to deliberately do an incomplete or
imperfect job in order to save time or money.
To cut a dash or To cut a figure, to make a display of
oneself; to give a conspicuous impression. [Colloq.]
To cut down.
(a) To sever and cause to fall; to fell; to prostrate.
"Timber . . . cut down in the mountains of Cilicia."
--Knolles.
(b) To put down; to abash; to humble. [Obs] "So great is
his natural eloquence, that he cuts down the finest
orator." --Addison
(c) To lessen; to retrench; to curtail; as, to cut down
expenses.
(d) (Naut.) To raze; as, to cut down a frigate into a
sloop.
To cut the knot or To cut the Gordian knot, to dispose of
a difficulty summarily; to solve it by prompt, arbitrary
action, rather than by skill or patience.
To cut lots, to determine lots by cuttings cards; to draw
lots.
To cut off.
(a) To sever; to separate.
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I would to God, . . .
The king had cut off my brother's. --Shak.
(b) To put an untimely death; to put an end to; to
destroy. "Iren[ae]us was likewise cut off by
martyrdom." --Addison.
(c) To interrupt; as, to cut off communication; to cut
off (the flow of) steam from (the boiler to) a steam
engine.
(d) To intercept; as,, to cut off an enemy's retreat.
(e) To end; to finish; as, to cut off further debate.
To cut out.
(a) To remove by cutting or carving; as, to cut out a
piece from a board.
(b) To shape or form by cutting; as, to cut out a
garment. " A large forest cut out into walks."
--Addison.
(c) To scheme; to contrive; to prepare; as, to cut out
work for another day. "Every man had cut out a place
for himself." --Addison.
(d) To step in and take the place of; to supplant; as, to
cut out a rival. [Colloq.]
(e) To debar. "I am cut out from anything but common
acknowledgments." --Pope.
(f) To seize and carry off (a vessel) from a harbor, or
from under the guns of an enemy.
(g) to separate from the midst of a number; as, to cut
out a steer from a herd; to cut out a car from a
train.
(h) to discontinue; as, to cut out smoking.
To cut to pieces.
(a) To cut into pieces; as, to cut cloth to pieces.
(b) To slaughter; as, to cut an army to pieces.
To cut a play (Drama), to shorten it by leaving out
passages, to adapt it for the stage.
To cut rates (Railroads, etc.), to reduce the charges for
transportation below the rates established between
competing lines.
To cut short, to arrest or check abruptly; to bring to a
sudden termination. "Achilles cut him short, and thus
replied." --Dryden.
To cut stick, to make off clandestinely or precipitately.
[Slang]
To cut teeth, to put forth teeth; to have the teeth pierce
through the gum and appear.
To have cut one's eyeteeth, to be sharp and knowing.
[Colloq.]
To cut one's wisdom teeth, to come to years of discretion.
To cut under, to undersell; as, to cut under a competitor
in trade; more commonly referred to as undercut.
To cut up.
(a) To cut to pieces; as, to cut up an animal, or bushes.
(b) To damage or destroy; to injure; to wound; as, to cut
up a book or its author by severe criticism. "This
doctrine cuts up all government by the roots."
--Locke.
(c) To afflict; to discourage; to demoralize; as, the
death of his friend cut him up terribly. [Colloq.]
--Thackeray.
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