Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use short in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, adverb, noun

Short means having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically. Example: “Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it’s been at least twenty minutes long.”

Examples of short by meaning

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

  • Nhung Ngo had the shortest legs at Site-43.2022 September 22, HarryBlank, “Mind Over Matter”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 23 May 2024

adjectiveHaving little duration.

  • Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it’s been at least twenty minutes long.
  • Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19...
  • Having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is associated with a shorter life expectancy and a greater risk of mental health issues, according to a new study of more than 30,000 people with the disorder in the United Kingdom.2025 January 23, Kristen Rogers, “People with ADHD have shorter life expectancy and higher risk of mental health issues, study finds”, in...

adjectiveOf 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".

adjectiveOf pastries or (metallurgy) of materials, brittle, crumbly.

  • I chose to interpret the references to butter and sugar as indicating that a short pastry was required. (Later editions suggest a biscuit-like texture.)2013, Heston Blumenthal, Historic Heston, →ISBN, page 122

adjectiveAbrupt, brief, pointed, curt.

  • He gave a short answer to the question.

adjectiveLimited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.

  • a short supply of provisions

adjectiveInsufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.

  • to be short of money
  • I'd lend you the cash but I'm a little short at present.
  • The cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.

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

  • an account which is short of the truth

More sentences with short

  • You're getting short of memory because you have too many apps open.From the entry open
  • After the accident, her right leg was slightly shorter than her left.From the entry right
  • Here's the measurement – the ribbon must be that long, no longer and no shorter.From the entry that
  • I was running short, so I touched old Bertie for a fiver.From the entry touch
  • In the western world, women usually have long hair while men usually have short hair.From the entry hair
  • I wear boxer shorts under trousers but for sports I usually wear a brief.From the entry brief
  • Our food supplies are running low because money is running short.From the entry run
  • After a very short time, he shot his load over the carpet.From the entry shoot
  • He was tall and thin but his wife was short and round.From the entry round
  • The captain signalled his best fielder from short leg to cover.From the entry cover
  • In short whist, five points are game, while in in table tennis game is 21 points.From the entry game
  • He thought it strange that his girlfriend wore shorts in the winter.From the entry strange
  • For third and short, they're going to bring in their jumbo package.From the entry package
  • The place you are looking for is two long blocks east and one short block north.From the entry block
  • The supersize model displayed the latest summer shorts fashion, tactfully representing similarly overweight teenagers.From the entry model
  • When talking about being laid off, he has a short fuse.From the entry fuse
  • They played a short fanfare to announce the arrival of the king.From the entry fanfare
  • He has a short attention span and gets bored within minutes.From the entry span
  • He gave a short summary without getting into the nitty-gritty of the problem.From the entry nitty-gritty
  • I'd like to buy a new car, but I'm short on dosh.From the entry dosh
  • We're a place setting short, there'll be four of us - always supposing your sis really comes.From the entry suppose
  • The actor had to make his cutting shorter to fit the audition time.From the entry cutting
  • He weighed slightly less than his wife who was a foot shorter.From the entry slightly
  • His treatment of our furry friends was nothing short of appalling.From the entry furry
  • Considering the extent of his crimes, he was given a surprisingly short sentence.From the entry considering
  • I am having very arousing thoughts about my gym trainer when he's in his tight shorts.From the entry arousing
  • The opportune arrival of the bus cut short the boring conversation.From the entry opportune
  • Jessica was so careless that she put her shorts on backwards.From the entry careless

Meaning of short

  1. adjective Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
  2. adjective Of a person, living being, or object, having a comparatively small height.
  3. adjective Having little duration.

Full definition of short

Questions about short in a sentence

How do you use short in a sentence?
Short is used as an adjective, adverb and noun. For example: “Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it’s been at least twenty minutes long.”
What is a short sentence with short?
“a short supply of provisions”
What does short mean?
Short means having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: short (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use short in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/short. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.