“up short”

The following 4 entries include the term up short.

bring up short

idiom

: to cause (someone) to stop suddenly

See the full definition

come up short

idiom

: to not go far enough : be insufficient

See the full definition

come up short of

idiom

: to fail to achieve

See the full definition

pull up short

idiom

: to suddenly stop what one is doing

See the full definition

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of travail

See Definitions and Examples »

Test Your Vocabulary

Face Your Fears

  • clown-mask
  • Arachnophobia is the fear of what multi-legged creatures?
How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!

TAKE THE QUIZ
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.

Pick the best words!

PLAY
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All