SHORT
What does "SHORT" mean?
Measuring little in length, height, distance, or duration.
Meanings
- Of small length or height. He took the short route through the park.
- Lasting only a small amount of time. It was a short meeting, over in ten minutes.
- Not having enough of something; lacking. We came up short on rent that month.
- Curt or abrupt in manner. She was short with him after the long flight.
- To sell a borrowed asset hoping to buy it back cheaper; to bet against. The fund shorted the stock just before the crash. technical
- A short film, or a short circuit. The festival opened with a five-minute short.
Did you know?
- A 'short circuit' is literally named for taking a shorter route: the electricity finds an unintended low-resistance shortcut that bypasses the device, which is why so much current floods through and things overheat.
Word origin
From Old English 'sceort' meaning short, from Proto-Germanic '*skurtaz' meaning cut off; it shares its root with 'shirt' and 'shear', all from the idea of being cut short.
Remember it
SHORT and SHIRT share four letters and one root meaning 'cut off' - a shirt was once just a short garment.
A little poem
Life is short, the poets like to say-
yet here's a Tuesday, somehow lasting all damn day.
couplet
Wordplay
- I tried to write a long story about a wiring fault, but it kept coming up short.
What it teaches
Calling something short is a judgment, not a fact; the same hour drags or flies depending on who is waiting.
Quick facts
What does SHORT mean?
Measuring little in length, height, distance, or duration.
Is SHORT a valid word?
Yes — SHORT is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SHORT?
SHORT has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SHORT come from?
From Old English 'sceort' meaning short, from Proto-Germanic '*skurtaz' meaning cut off; it shares its root with 'shirt' and 'shear', all from the idea of being cut short.
What can SHORT teach us?
Calling something short is a judgment, not a fact; the same hour drags or flies depending on who is waiting.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.