Less vs. Short

Less (adverb)

To a smaller extent.

Less (adverb)

In lower degree.

“This is a less bad solution than I thought possible.”

Less (adjective)

; smaller, lesser. from 11th c.

Less (adjective)

comparative of little: a smaller amount (of); not as much. from 14th c.

“I have less than you have.”

“I have less tea than coffee.”

Less (adjective)

comparative of few: fewer; a smaller number of. from 9th c.

Less (preposition)

Minus; not including

“It should then tax all of that as personal income, less the proportion of the car’s annual mileage demonstrably clocked up on company business.”

Less (verb)

To make less; to lessen.

Less (conjunction)

unless

Short (adjective)

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

Short (adjective)

Of comparatively little height.

Short (adjective)

Having little duration; opposite of long.

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

Short (adjective)

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”.”

Short (adjective)

that is relatively close to the batsman.

Short (adjective)

that bounced relatively far from the batsman.

Short (adjective)

that falls short of the green or the hole.

Short (adjective)

Brittle, crumbly, especially due to the use of too much shortening. See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust.

Short (adjective)

Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.

“He gave a short answer to the question.”

Short (adjective)

Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.

“a short supply of provisions”

Short (adjective)

Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking.

“to be short of money”

“The cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.”

Short (adjective)

Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.

“an account which is short of the truth”

Short (adjective)

Not distant in time; near at hand.

Short (adjective)

Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.

“I’m short General Motors because I think their sales are plunging.”

Short (adverb)

Abruptly, curtly, briefly.

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

“He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.”

“The boss got a message and cut the meeting short.”

Short (adverb)

Unawares.

“The recent developments at work caught them short.”

Short (adverb)

Without achieving a goal or requirement.

“His speech fell short of what was expected.”

Short (adverb)

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

Short (adverb)

With a negative ownership position.

“We went short most finance companies in July.”

Short (noun)

A short circuit.

Short (noun)

A short film.

Short (noun)

Used to indicate a short-length version of a size

“38 short suits fit me right off the rack.”

“Do you have that size in a short.”

Short (noun)

A shortstop.

“Jones smashes a grounder between third and short.”

Short (noun)

A short seller.

“The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.”

Short (noun)

A short sale.

“He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.”

Short (noun)

A summary account.

Short (noun)

A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

Short (noun)

An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.

Short (verb)

To cause a short circuit in (something).

Short (verb)

Of an short circuit.

Short (verb)

To shortchange.

Short (verb)

To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.

“This is the third time I’ve caught them shorting us.”

Short (verb)

To sell something, especially securities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; to sell short.

Short (verb)

To shorten.

Short (preposition)

Deficient in.

“We are short a few men on the second shift.”

“He’s short common sense.”

Short (preposition)

Having a negative position in.

“I don’t want to be short the market going into the weekend.”