short 
score. See scorei, 9. Short sea, shrift, sixes, splice, 
stitch, suit, warp, whist, etc. See the nouns. To come 
short, to come short of. See come. To cover short 
sales. See coeeri . To enter a Dill short. See enteri . 
To fall short. See/aid. To go short, (a) To fail 
to equal or match : generally with of. 
Drake was a Dy'ilapper to Mandeville. 
Candish, and Hawkins, Furbisher, all our voyagers 
Went shm-l of Mandeville. Brrnne, Antipodes, i. 6. 
(b) On the stock-exchange, to sell largely, expecting to buy 
later as many shares as may have been previously sold. 
To heave a cable short. See heave. To make short 
boards. See board. To make short work of, with, 
etc. See work. 
II. . 1. A summary account : as, the short ot 
the matter: see the long and the short, under 
long 1 . 
The short is this : 
'Tis no ambition to lift up myself 
Urgeth me thus. 
Beau, and Fl., Maid's Tragedy, v. 3. 
The short is that your sister Gratiana 
Shall stay no longer here. 
Chapman, All Fools, iii. 1. 
2. In pros., a short time or syllable. See longi, 
n., 2. 
The average long would occupy rather less than twice 
the time of the average short, J. Hadley, Essays, p. 264. 
The sounds being divided into longs and shorts. 
S. Lanier, Sci. of Eng. Verse, p. 68. 
3. Whatever is deficient in number, quantity, 
or the like. 
In counting the remittances of bank notes received for 
redemption during the year, there was found $25,528 in 
overs, being amounts in excess of the amounts claimed, 
and #8,246 in shorts, being amounts less than the amounts 
claimed. Rep. of Sec. of Treasury, 1886, p. 100. 
This [coin-package] is a self-counter, in which there can 
be no danger of short* or overs. 
Sci. Amur., N. S., I VII. 194. 
4. pi. The bran and coarse part of meal, in mix- 
ture. 5. pi. In rope-making, the toppings and 
tailings of hemp, which are dressed for bolt- 
ropes and whale-lines; also, hemp inferior to 
that used in making staple ropes. 6. pi. 
Small-clothes; knee-breeches: a term intro- 
duced when but few persons still wore this 
dress, trousers being more common. 
A little emphatic man, with a bald head, and drab 
shorts, who suddenly rushed up the ladder, at the immi- 
nent peril of snapping the two little legs encased in the 
drab shorts. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxiii. 
We can recall a pair of drab shorts worn as part of a 
walking dress, with low quartered shoes and white-cotton 
stockings, nearly as late as 1829 or 30. 
Quarterly Ret., CXLVI. 195. 
The little old gentleman . . . follows him, in black 
shorts and white silk stockings. 
W. Besa.nl, Fifty Years Ago, p. 49. 
7. pi. In printing, the copies that have been or 
should be reprinted to make full a deficient 
edition. 8. In exchange dealings : (a) A short 
sale: as, to cover one's shorts. (6) One who 
has made short sales, or has sold short. See 
to sell short, below. 9. In base-ball, same as 
short-stop. For short, by way of abbreviation : as, her 
name is Elizabeth, but she is called Bet for short. [Colloq.] 
The property-man, or, as he is always called, "props," 
for short. New York Tribune, July 14, 1889. 
In Short, in few words ; in brief ; to sum up briefly. 
Now I must telle in shorte, for I muste so, 
Youre observauace that ye shalle done at none. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 5. 
Gay and sunny, pellucid in air and water, we are sure 
that Smyrna is in short, everything that could be wished. 
De Quincey, Homer, L 
To cover shorts. See caverl. 
short (short), adv. [< short, .] In a short 
manner, in any sense ; briefly or curtly ; not at 
length; insufficiently; friably. 
Speak short, and have as short despatch. 
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, i. 1. 
If the cakes at tea ate short and crisp, they were made 
by Olivia. Goldsmith, Vicar, xvi. 
He answer'd not, 
Or short and coldly. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
To blow short. See Wowi. To cut short. See cut. 
To sell short, in exchange dealings, to sell what the 
seller does not at the time possess, but hopes to buy at a 
lower rate before the time specified for delivery. To 
set short*, to regard or treat as of little value. Com- 
pare to set light, etc. 
For-thy ich consaille alle creatures no clerk to dispise, 
No sette short by here science what so thei don hemselue. 
Piers Plowman (CX xv. 65. 
To take up Short, to check abruptly ; answer or inter- 
rupt curtly ; take to task unceremoniously or uncivilly. 
When some of their Officers that had been sent to ap- 
prehend him came back with admiration of him, and said, 
Never man spake like this man, they take them up short, 
and tell them, They must believe as the Church believes. 
Stulingfleet, Sermons, II. x. i. 
He was taken up short., as one that spoke irreverently of 
a mystery. Swift, Tale of a Tub, ii. 
5588 
shortt (shdrt), r. [< ME. shorten, schorten, < 
AS. sceortian (= OFries. km-tii, 1,'crtn, Icirta = 
D. korten = MLG. korten = OHG. curzen, kttr- 
zen, kilrzen, MHG. schurzcn, l,'iii'-fn, G. kiirzen 
= Sw. korta = Dan. kortc), become short, < 
sceort, short: see short, n.~\ I. intnnix, 1. To 
become short; shorten. 
His sight wasteth, his wytte mynysheth, his lyf shorteth. 
The Book of Good Manners (I486). 
2. Naut., to take in the slack; haul in. 
We layd out one of those ankers, with a hawser which 
he had of 140 fadom long, thinking to haue warpt in, but 
it would not be ; for as we shorted vpon y said warpe the 
anker came home. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 277. 
II. trans. 1. To make short; shorten. 
And eek I praye, Jhesu shorte hir lyves 
That nat wol be governed by hir wyves. 
Chaucer, Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 405. 
Which affray shorttyd the lyffdayes of the sayd Phil- 
lippe, whtche dyed withynne shorte tyme after the said 
affray. Paston Letters, I. 278. 
But let my loves fayre Planet short her wayes 
This yeare ensuing, or else short my dayes. 
Spenser, Sonnets, Ix. 
2. To make the time appear short to ; amuse ; 
divert : used reflexively. 
Furth I fure ... to schort me on the sandis. 
Sir D. Lindsay. 
shortage (shdr'taj), n. [< short + -age.'} A 
deficit ; deficiency ; the amount by which any- 
thing is short. 
On all Grain blown and screened to lighters for harbor 
delivery, shortage in excess of one bushel per thousand 
bushels will not be guaranteed. 
yew York Produce Exchange Report, 1888-9, p. 236. 
short-armed (short'armd), a. Having short 
arms; not reaching far ; hence, feeble. 
Which short-armed ignorance itself knows. 
Shak.,1. andC., il. 3. 15. 
short-ax (short 'aks), n. A battle-ax with a 
short handle, adapted for wielding with one 
hand, and especially for mounted knights : dis- 
tinguished from the poleax ; which was essen- 
tially the arm of a foot-soldier. 
short-billed (short'bild), a. In ornith., having 
a short bill ; brevirostrate or brevirostral : spe- 
cifically applied to many birds: as, the short- 
billed kittiwake, Bissa brevirostris ; the short- 
billed marsh-wren, Cistothorus stellaris. 
short-bread (shdrt'bred), n. Same as short- 
cake (a). [Scotch.] 
All kinds of cake were there, and soda-scones, short- 
bread, marmalade, black-currant jam, and the like. 
W. Black, In Far Lochaber, 11. 
short-breathed (short'bretht), a. Having short 
breath or hurried respiration ; dyspnoeic. 
One strange draught prescribed by Hippocrates for a 
short-breathed man is half a gallon of hydromel with a lit- 
tle vinegar. Arbuthnot. 
shortcake (shdrt'kak), n. A rich crisp tea- 
cake, made short with butter, sweetened, and 
baked rather thin, (a) A broad, flat, thin cake made 
crisp and short with lard or butter, and served up hot. (i>) 
Pie-crust or pastry baked in small cakes and eaten with- 
out the filling, (c) A thin, light, tender cake, shortened, 
sometimes sweetened, and served either hot or cold. It 
is often prepared in layers with fruit between them, to 
be eaten with cream, as strawberry shortcake, peach short- 
cake, etc. [U. S.) 
Sweet cakes and short cakes, ginger cakes and honey 
cakes, and the whole family of cakes. 
Irving, Sketch-Book, p. 440. 
short-circuit (sh6rt'ser"kit), v. i. To complete 
an electric circuit by a conductor of low resis- 
tance ; introduce a shunt of low resistance. 
short-cloak (sh&rt'klok), n. A British geomet- 
rid moth, Cidaria pieata: more fully called 
short-cloak carpet. 
short-coarse (shdrt'kors), . One of the grades 
of wool into which a fleece is divided. 
short-coat (shdrt'kot), v. t. [< short coat-s (see 
under short, a.).] To dress in the first short 
garments, so as to leave the legs free for stand- 
ing and walking; put short clothes on: said of 
infants. 
A spoiled, pettish baby, just short-coated, could not have 
befooled me more. E. S. Sheppard, Counterparts, xxxviii. 
"I really do believe," continued the young matron 
slowly, ..." that we shall have to short-coat him before 
the three months are out." 
Mrs. L. B. Walford, The Baby's Grandmother, xxiv. 
Manitoba is as yet in its headstrong youth, and the 
North- West Territories are waiting to be shortcoated. 
Atheneeum, No. S252, p. 238. 
shortcoming (sh6rt'kum''ing), n. [Verbal n. 
of come short (see under come).'] 1. A falling- 
off of the usual produce, quantity, or amount, 
as of a crop. 2. A failure of performance, as 
of duty; a coming short; a delinquency. 
shortening 
It would argue a just sensibleness . . . of our unworthy 
shortcomings, in not having more strenuously endeavoured 
to prevent this course of defection, ... if for this we 
were mourning. M l Ward, Contendings (1723), p. 222. 
I ... have not 
Completed half my task ; and so at times 
The thought of my shurtcomiiujs in this life 
Falls like a shadow on the life to come. 
Longfellow, Golden Legend, iv. 
Very little achievement is required in order to pity an- 
other man's shortcomings. George io,Middlemarch,xxi. 
short-dated (shorfda'ted), a. Having little 
time to run. 
The course of thy short-dated life. 
Sandys, Paraphrase upon Eccles, , U. 
short-drawn (short'dran), a. Drawn in incom- 
pletely; imperfectly inspired: as, short-drawn 
breath. 
short-eared (short'erd), a. In ornith., having 
short plumicorns : as, the short-eared owl, Asio 
aceipitrimis, formerly Strix brachyotus or Bra- 
chyotus palustris. 
shortelichet, adv. An obsolete variant of shortly. 
shorten (shdr'tn), . [< short + -en 1 .] I. in- 
trans. 1. To become short or shorter; con- 
tract; diminish in length: as, ropes shorten 
when wet. 
Futurity still shortens, and time present sucks in time 
to come. Sir T. Browne, Christ. Mor., iii. 13. 
The short'ning winter day is near a close. 
Burns, Cottar's Saturday Night. 
2. To make anything short: used with in in 
the nautical phrase to shorten in on the cable, to 
heave in short or shorter. 3. To come short; 
fail. 
They had at that present but one Minister, nor neuer 
had but two, and they so shortned of their promises that 
but onely for meere pity they would haue forsaken them. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, II. 163. 
To shorten in, in hort., to prune. 
Some people imagine that when they have taken a pair 
of hedge shears or some such instrument* and shorn off 
the ends of the shoots on the outside of the tree indis- 
criminately,theyaresAortenin#in; and so they are, as they 
would a hedge ! P. Barry, Fruit Garden, p. 267. 
II. trans. 1. To make short or shorter; 
abridge ; curtail : as, to shorten hours of work ; 
to shorten the skirt of a dress. 
I am sorry that by hanging thee I can 
But shorten thy life one week. 
Shak., W. T., iv. 4. 433. 
But here and elsewhere often, when he telleth tales out 
of Schoole, the good mans tongue is shortned. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 90. 
In pity to us, God has shortened and bounded our view. 
Bp. AUerbury, Sermons, II. xxii. 
The race that shortens its weapons lengthens its boun- 
daries. 0. W. Holmes, Autocrat, i. 
2. To make appear short: as, pleasant com- 
panionship shortens a journey ; a concave mir- 
ror shortens the face. 
We shortened, days to moments by love's art. 
Suckling, Detraction Execrated. 
There, lost behind a rising ground, the wood 
Seems sunk, and shorten'd to its topmost boughs. 
Couyer, Task, i. 80S. 
3. Figuratively, to make inefficient or incapa- 
ble. Compare short-armed. 
Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot 
save. Isa, lix. 1. 
4. To take in; contract; lessen in extent or 
amount: as, to shorten sail; to shorten an al- 
lowance. 
Grind their joints 
With dry convulsions, shorten up their sinews 
With aged cramps. Shak., Tempest, iv. 1. 260. 
5. To check ; confine ; restrain. 
Here, where the subject is so fruitful, I am shortened by 
my chain. Dryden. 
6. To deprive. 
Dishonest with lopped arms the youth appears, 
Spoiled of his nose, and shortened of his ears. 
Dryden, JJneid, vi. 669. 
7. To cause to come short or fail. 
By the discovery 
We shall be shorten'd in our aim, which was 
To take in many towns ere almost Rome 
Should know we were afoot. Shak., Cor., i. 2. 23. 
8. To make short or friable, as pastry with 
butter or lard. 9. To pronounce or measure 
as short: as, to shorten a vowel or syllable. 
To shorten sail See mill. 
shortener (sh6rt'ner), n. [< shorten + -er>.] 
One who or that which shortens. 
The gout ... is not usually reckoned a shortener of life. 
Swift Inquiry into the Behaviour of the Queen's Last 
[Ministry, ii. 
shortening (short'ning), . In cookery, lard, 
butter, or other substance used to make pastry 
short or flaky. 
