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short
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- pronunciation:
- short
- parts of speech:
- adjective, adverb, noun
- features:
- Word Builder, Word Explorer
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| inflections: |
shorter, shortest |
| definition 1: |
When something is short, it is not long from one end to another. A new baby's fingers are short. As the baby gets older, its fingers will get longer.
The pants Eric tried on at the store were too short.Even though it was a cold day, Josh wore a shirt with short sleeves.
- antonyms:
- long
- similar words:
- brief, little, slight, small, tiny
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| definition 2: |
When someone is short, it means that they are not tall. Young children are usually short compared with their parents.
Brian is too short to reach the top shelf of the cupboard, so he has to stand on a chair.Nina's older sister used to be short, but she has grown a lot since she started middle school.- antonyms:
- tall
- similar words:
- dwarfish, little, low, small
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| definition 3: |
A short time is a small amount of time. If you take a short walk, it means you do not go very far and you come back very soon. If you read a short book, it doesn't take much time to finish it.
Maya took a short break from doing her homework and ate a quick snack.- synonyms:
- brief
- antonyms:
- long
- similar words:
- little, quick, temporary
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| definition 4: |
If you are short of something, it means that you don't have enough of it for something.
Tiffany's dad was short of time and couldn't stop at the post office.Jake couldn't buy a movie ticket because he was two dollars short. Fortunately, his friend said he could borrow two dollars from him.- synonyms:
- shy
- similar words:
- lacking, low, sparse
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| part of speech: |
adverb |
| inflections: |
shorter, shortest |
| definition 1: |
When a car stops short, it stops very suddenly.
The car stopped short when the driver saw a dog in the road.- synonyms:
- abruptly, suddenly
- similar words:
- directly, immediately, instantly, quickly
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| definition 2: |
When the tennis ball falls short of the net, it means that it falls before it gets over the net.
Ricky tossed the basketball up towards the net, but it fell short.- similar words:
- before, early
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| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition 1: |
A short is a movie that is not very long. A typical movie lasts about two hours. A short might last about twenty minutes.
The director's first short was very successful. |
| definition 2: |
A short is a problem with an electrical circuit. Imagine the electricity in your house. It is always flowing to give you power when you want it. When there is a short, electricity is going down the wrong way for some reason. You can imagine it escaping from its usual path to take a shorter way. A short can cause loss of power, damage to things, and sometimes serious injury to people. Sparks from a short can cause a fire.
A nail hitting a wire in the wall and caused a short. |
| derivation: |
shortness (n.) |
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