How to Use caught short in a Sentence

caught short

idiom
  • Southwest has blamed bad weather, but the airline appeared to be caught short on staffing.
    David Koenig, Chron, 27 Aug. 2021
  • Others are ordering extra now to avoid being caught short if the talks flag, which only adds to strain on the system.
    Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2022
  • Metcalf also caught short pass, but turned the reception into a 19-yard gain by driving through Gilmore in the fourth quarter.
    oregonlive, 21 Sep. 2020
  • Time after time, Biden has been caught short by consequences of his policies that should have been obvious.
    Star Tribune, 13 June 2021
  • Companies were caught short when lockdowns to contain the pandemic were lifted and demand roared back to life.
    John Detrixhe, Quartz, 3 Nov. 2021
  • Panic buying set in, as consumers remodeling their houses for the work-from-home era rushed to avoid being caught short.
    BostonGlobe.com, 22 June 2021
  • UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma is never at a loss for words and rarely caught short of solutions.
    Dom Amore, courant.com, 8 Dec. 2021
  • That means no one, including manager Terry Francona, is going to be caught short on bubble gum or other essentials.
    Paul Hoynes, cleveland, 10 Mar. 2022
  • Companies that got caught short on inventory during the pandemic are also scrambling to add warehouse space.
    Dallas News, 26 Oct. 2022
  • The disruptions were due in large part to staffing issues after American persuaded thousands of employees to leave last year, only to be caught short when air travel recovered faster than expected from the depths of the pandemic.
    David Koenig, Chron, 7 Dec. 2021
  • So no facility is caught short, the government should set thresholds and develop regional warehouses and stockpiles, with attention to greatest-need areas.
    Robert N. Golden and Joseph E. Kerschner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2020
  • With that deal scheduled to expire July 1, businesses in coming months will probably order more than normal to avoid being caught short again, further aggravating congestion, executives said.
    David J. Lynch, Anchorage Daily News, 3 Oct. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'caught short.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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