Defn: 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.
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.
13. (Phon.)
Defn: 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, §§22, 30.
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. 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.
SHORT
Short, n.
1. A summary account. The short and the long is, our play is preferred. Shak.
2. pl.
Defn: The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than
the bran.
The first remove above bran is shorts. Halliwell.
3. pl.