short

Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

Of a person, living being, or object, having a comparatively small height.

Nhung Ngo had the shortest legs at Site-43. She was the shortest member of staff, two inches beneath the positively elfin Delfina Ibanez, and yet Lillian found her inexplicably difficult to shake. Power-walking down the halls didn't do the trick, as it always did when Wettle-dodging, since the diminutive headshrink kept disappearing into commissaries or service corridors or even other people's offices and emerging, smiling, in front of her.

Having little duration.

Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it’s been at least twenty minutes long.

The results of this generalized speedup of the corporate metabolism are multiple: shorter product life cycles, more leasing and renting, more frequent buying and selling, more ephemeral consumption patterns, […]

Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).

"Phone" is short for "telephone" and "asap" short for "as soon as possible".

Of a fielder or fielding position, that is relatively close to the batsman.

Abruptly, curtly, briefly.

They had to stop short to avoid hitting the dog in the street.

He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.

Unawares.

The recent developments at work caught them short.

We were caught short by the sudden hailstorm.

Without achieving a goal or requirement.

His speech fell short of what was expected.

Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.

With a negative ownership position.

We went short most finance companies in July.

A short circuit.

The circuit breaker keeps tripping because there's a short in the wiring.

A short film.

Preceded by a Simpsons short shot in 3-D—perhaps the only thing more superfluous than a fourth Ice Age movie—Ice Age: Continental Drift finds a retinue of vaguely contemporaneous animals coping with life in the post-Pangaea age.

A short film.

A short version of a garment in a particular size.

38 short suits fit me right off the rack.

Do you have that size in a short?

A shortstop.

Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.