Word.ws English Dictionary

takes someone up short

takes someone up short is the third-person singular simple present indicative of take someone up short.

Meaning of take someone up short

Verb

take someone up short (third-person singular simple present takes someone up short, present participle taking someone up short, simple past took someone up short, past participle taken someone up short)

  1. (dated) To check someone or give them a curt answer.

Questions about takes someone up short

What is takes someone up short the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Takes someone up short is the third-person singular simple present indicative of take someone up short.

Words near takes someone up short in the dictionary

  1. takes some doing
  2. takes someone at their word
  3. takes someone down the garden path
  4. takes someone for all they've got
  5. takes someone to the grave
  6. takes someone up short
  7. takes someone's arm
  8. takes someone's breath away
  9. takes someone's fancy
  10. takes someone's head off
  11. takes someone's life

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: takes someone up short (page history and authors); take someone 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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