Word.ws English Dictionary

brings up short

brings up short is the third-person singular simple present indicative of bring up short.

Meaning of bring up short

Verb

bring up short (third-person singular simple present brings up short, present participle bringing up short, simple past and past participle brought up short)

  1. To arrest (someone or something's) forward motion; to halt before a goal is reached.
    • The soldiers spurred their horses forward but were brought up short by Lieutenant Montoya.2009, Matthew Baca, The Antiquarian, →ISBN, page 145
  2. (figuratively) To startle or interrupt (someone), causing them to stop or reevaluate what they are doing.
    • I suppose things can go well for just so long before events bring you up short.2000, Donald S. Vogel, Memories and Images: The World of Donald Vogel and Valley House Gallery, →ISBN
    Synonyms:
    pull up short

Questions about brings up short

What is brings up short the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Brings up short is the third-person singular simple present indicative of bring up short.

Words near brings up short in the dictionary

  1. brings to the table
  2. brings together
  3. brings under
  4. brings up
  5. brings up against
  6. brings up short
  7. brings up the rear
  8. brings up to
  9. brings upon
  10. brings with
  11. bringsel

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: brings up short (page history and authors); bring up short (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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