'Shortest' definitions:

Definition of 'Shortest'

From: GCIDE
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it. --Isa. xxviii. 20. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as, short breath. [1913 Webster]
  • The life so short, the craft so long to learn. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • To short absense I could yield. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • We shall be short in our provision. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Not distant in time; near at hand. [1913 Webster]
  • Marinell was sore offended That his departure thence should be so short. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • He commanded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready by a short day. --Clarendon. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory. [1913 Webster]
  • Their own short understandings reach No farther than the present. --Rowe. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); -- with of. [1913 Webster]
  • Hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse them again to war. --Landor. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. (Cookery) Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as, short pastry. [1913 Webster]
  • 11. (Metal) Brittle. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]