stop short
idiom
: to stop or be stopped just before doing or reaching something
I had to slam on the brakes when the car in front of me stopped short.
He was about to say something, then stopped short.
—often + ofThe boss said that she was unhappy with some employees, but she stopped short of naming which ones.
The running back was stopped short of the goal line.
Examples of stop short in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Washington is considering further measures to restrict sales of semiconductor equipment and AI memory chips to China, but that the new rules could stop short of earlier proposals that were seen as stricter.
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Arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 28 Nov. 2024
The Biden administration is weighing additional curbs on sales of semiconductor equipment and AI memory chips to China that would escalate the U.S. crackdown on Beijing’s tech ambitions but stop short of some stricter measures previously considered, according to people familiar with the matter.
—Geoff Colvin, Fortune Asia, 28 Nov. 2024
But Iran also has many ways to wield its nuclear program that stop short of getting a weapon, injecting further peril into an already volatile new nuclear age.
—Uri Friedman, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2024
Why sacrifice thousands of lives, Palestinian and Israeli alike, but stop short of a definitive end to the war that would lay the groundwork for rebuilding Gaza?
—Nicholas Kristof, The Mercury News, 21 May 2024
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Arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 28 Nov. 2024
The Biden administration is weighing additional curbs on sales of semiconductor equipment and AI memory chips to China that would escalate the U.S. crackdown on Beijing’s tech ambitions but stop short of some stricter measures previously considered, according to people familiar with the matter.
—Geoff Colvin, Fortune Asia, 28 Nov. 2024
But Iran also has many ways to wield its nuclear program that stop short of getting a weapon, injecting further peril into an already volatile new nuclear age.
—Uri Friedman, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2024
Why sacrifice thousands of lives, Palestinian and Israeli alike, but stop short of a definitive end to the war that would lay the groundwork for rebuilding Gaza?
—Nicholas Kristof, The Mercury News, 21 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for stop short
Dictionary Entries Near stop short
Cite this Entry
“Stop short.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stop%20short. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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