short circuit

short circuit noun: a usually unintentional connection of low resistance or impedance in a circuit such that excessive and often damaging current flows in it.

Noun

short circuit (plural short circuits)

A usually unintentional connection of low resistance or impedance in a circuit such that excessive and often damaging current flows in it.
- One issue surrounds residual current devices (RCDs), the safety devices found in fuse boxes that sense when current is leaking to ground – a sign of electrocution or a short circuit – and almost instantaneously cut power. Most RCDs used in the UK aren’t suitable for current flowing in both...2026 April 1, Matthew Sparkes, “Plug-in solar is coming – how dangerous is it and is it worth it? Plug-in solar panels are a cheaper, simpler alternative to professionally installed panels. But can...
Synonyms:

short
(broadly, figuratively) A logical disconnect, such as cognitive dissonance or poor analysis.
- The Jewish Community Relations Council does work on racism and multicultural issues, but they don't address anti-Arab racism in this work. They see that as 'political.' It's like they have a short-circuit inside them.1990 February 11, Tatiana Schreiber, quoting Sharon Jaffe, “End the Occupation!”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 30, page 10
- Just the thought of being in a crisis that we cannot buy, build or invest our way out of seems to create some kind of collective mental short-circuit. This mix of ignorance, denial and unawareness is the very heart of the problem2020 August 19, Damian Carrington, quoting Greta Thunberg et. al., “Another two years lost to climate inaction, says Greta Thunberg”, in The Guardian

Verb

short circuit (third-person singular simple present short circuits, present participle short circuiting, simple past and past participle short circuited)

(transitive) To cause a short circuit in.
- In the motor control room aft, a crewman crashed against the main electrical switchboard, short-circuiting it with his body, and all power aboard was lost.1984, Tom Clancy, “The Eighth Day: Friday, 10 December”, in The Hunt for Red October, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, →ISBN, page 193
(intransitive) To undergo a short circuit.

Synonyms:

short out
(broadly, transitive) To force termination of an ongoing process before its natural conclusion, by bypassing one or more intermediary steps.
- [H]is temporarily successful attempt to smear Redfield is an effort to short-circuit the narrative into premature and mistaken resolution.1998, Catherine Nickerson, The Web of Iniquity
- You do not need to follow your entire sales cycle if the customer wants to short-circuit it for you.2002, Jim Kasper, Short Cycle Selling: Beating Your Competitors in the Sales Race
(broadly, transitive) To impede or disrupt.
- At times, the Knicks’ offense looked short-circuited. Anthony, despite his cold hand, kept shooting. / “They all feel good, to be honest with you,” Anthony said. “It wasn’t long, it wasn’t short, they were bouncing off the rim, they were chippers, the same shot I hit all the time so I can’t stop...2016 November 28, Mike Vorkunov, “Despite Flash of Rose’s Prime, Knicks Are Dazed by Westbrook and Thunder”, in The New York Times
(transitive) To bypass, especially by overhastiness.
- By insisting that "style" is the only way to exert your undeserving self upon the world these books short-circuit the chance for, and even the need for, the possibility of change in the lives of people or the culture.1982 February 6, Michael Bronski, “A Very Stale Crisp”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 28, page 11
- By multiplying interpretive registers, however, Baudelaire's text short-circuits the desire for identification as well as erodes any rigid allegorical mapping.2014, Zahi Zalloua, Reading Unruly, page 172
(transitive) To terminate a loop before the declared termination condition is met, or a conditional before all conditions have been tested for.
- For example, to short-circuit the "LoggedIn()" or "LogIn()" "if" conditional, replace the "Or" with "OrElse" and the statement is interpreted to mean "if not logged in, then log in".2002, Paul Kimmel, Visual Basic.Net Unleashed
- If you would like to short-circuit, you must replace "And" with the "AndAlso" keyword and "Or" with the "OrElse" keyword, as follows....2002, Jose Mojico, C# and VB.NET Conversion Pocket Reference

short circuit meaning in Tamil, Tagalog, Indonesian and Vietnamese

short circuit in Tamil

குறுக்கு வெட்டு மின்பாய்வு, குறுக்குவழி, மின்கசிவு, குறுக்குச் சுற்று, குறுக்குச்சுற்று, குறுக்குச் சுற்றுவழி

short circuit in Tagalog

unintentional connection: laktod

short circuit in Indonesian

unintentional connection: hubungan pendek, korsleting, arus pendek, hubung pendek

short circuit in Vietnamese

unintentional connection: đoản mạch

Synonyms of short circuit

Forms of short circuit

Noun
plural	short circuits
alternative form	short-circuit
Verb
third-person singular present	short circuits
present participle	short circuiting
past participle	short circuited
past	short circuited

Origin of short circuit

short + circuit

Words formed from short circuit

short circuit operator

Questions about short circuit

What does short circuit mean?: Short circuit means a usually unintentional connection of low resistance or impedance in a circuit such that excessive and often damaging current flows in it.
What is short circuit in Tamil?: Short circuit in Tamil is குறுக்கு வெட்டு மின்பாய்வு, குறுக்குவழி, மின்கசிவு. See Short circuit meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is short circuit?: Short circuit can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of short circuit?: The plural of short circuit is short circuits.

Words near short circuit in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: short circuit (page history and authors); short circuit (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-short circuit.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-short circuit.wav.

Cite this entry: “short circuit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/short_circuit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.