shortest

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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