short of
Idioms-
Having an inadequate supply of, as in We're short of cash right now . [Late 1600s] Also see fall short of .
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Less than, inferior to, as in Nothing short of her best effort was needed to make the team . [Mid-1500s]
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Other than, without resorting to, as in Short of yelling, I had no other way of getting his attention .
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See stop short , def. 3.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The first school in Wales to introduce a pouch system in September 2023, head teacher Ian Gerrard called the impact "nothing short of transformational" when the ban was introduced for the whole school at once.
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026
The NBA regular season ended Sunday and the first order of business for teams that fell short of making the playoffs was to evaluate their head coach.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
Pre-election surveys show no candidate polling above 15 percent, far short of the 50 percent needed to win outright.
From Barron's • Apr. 12, 2026
Major substrate manufacturers have said AI-related production lines are at or near full capacity, and they expect industry capacity to fall well short of demand by 2027.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
Chess Life proclaimed Bobby’s victory nothing short of “fantastic.”
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
