Word.ws English Dictionary

short commons

short commons noun: meagre rations.

Noun

short commons pl (plural only)

  1. (figuratively, plural, plural-only, sometimes) Meagre rations.
    • The master, in his cook's uniform, stationed himself at the copper; his pauper assistants ranged themselves behind him; the gruel was served out; and a long grace was said over the short commons.1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Oliver Twist; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC
    • Kitty, the cook, who took life 'aisy', kept him on short commons.1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC

Questions about short commons

What does short commons mean?
Short commons means meagre rations.
What part of speech is short commons?
Short commons is a noun.

Words near short commons in the dictionary

  1. short circuited
  2. short circuiting
  3. short circuits
  4. short code
  5. short codes
  6. short commons
  7. short con
  8. short cons
  9. short corner
  10. short corners
  11. short cross

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: short commons (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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