How to Use short-circuit in a Sentence

short-circuit

1 of 2 verb
  • Turnovers short-circuited the Terps the rest of the way.
    Patrick Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 12 Oct. 2024
  • But the surge soon short-circuited when the Rockies tied the game in the top of the eighth.
    Alex Speier, BostonGlobe.com, 13 June 2023
  • Scoreboards have begun to short-circuit at the thought.
    Kevin Scarbinsky | , al, 14 Apr. 2023
  • Allowing agencies to step in when the law falls silent short-circuits that process.
    The Editors, National Review, 18 Jan. 2024
  • So, when the Entity forces Hunt to choose which of his amigas to save, Ilsa or Grace, the guy all but short-circuits.
    Peter Debruge, Variety, 5 July 2023
  • You short-circuit them if you’re baffled by the suggestion that baldness is a source of shame.
    Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 18 Feb. 2023
  • Dendrites can short-circuit the battery cell and cause explosive fires.
    Nidhi Sharma, NBC News, 6 Nov. 2023
  • Her reporting includes tips to short-circuit this doom loop.
    Lila MacLellan, Fortune, 28 Apr. 2023
  • To defeat him, Scott goes sub-atomic and short-circuits Darren’s shrinking suit.
    Adam B. Vary, Variety, 15 Feb. 2023
  • The issues are caused when water penetrates a smart lock and corrodes the metal or causes the device to short-circuit.
    Abigail Singrey, Architectural Digest, 7 Oct. 2024
  • The group argued that the Chevron doctrine short-circuited the way government is supposed to work by putting agencies in charge of the laws they were supposed to follow.
    Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 17 Jan. 2024
  • Worse still, if too many lithium ions build up, the battery can short-circuit and, potentially, start a battery fire.
    Rebecca Heilweil, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2023
  • Role is: To make a statement about belonging, after the neck injury short-circuited the initial Heat go-round.
    Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 13 July 2024
  • Trying to short-circuit that decision in the courts, however, is likely to make things worse rather than better.
    Nr Editors, National Review, 22 Dec. 2023
  • For, as everyone knows, when reception is bad, the short-circuit is sometimes in the receiver.
    Kathleen Watt, Allure, 6 Dec. 2023
  • In the wake of Hurricane Ian in 2022, at least a dozen electric cars caught fire after being exposed to salty floodwaters that caused them to short-circuit.
    John Fund, National Review, 28 Jan. 2024
  • In a statement, the local government said a short-circuit sparked the fire in the early morning hours of Saturday in the southern region of Arequipa.
    Reuters, CNN, 7 May 2023
  • The researchers have struggled with dendrites – spiky metallic formations that can cause a battery to short-circuit.
    Cameron Pugh, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Mar. 2024
  • The homeowner plugged it into an outlet in their kitchen, but the battery short-circuited and exploded.
    Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 31 Jan. 2024
  • Against the Grizzlies, a team that loved getting into the paint, Davis was a force at the rim, blocking 26 shots and was single-handedly capable of forcing the Grizzlies to short-circuit.
    Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2023
  • Electrical storms can short-circuit the power grid, as occurred in Quebec in 1989 when millions of people were left without power in the cold of late winter.
    Kim Beil, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Mar. 2024
  • Other times, conveniences are put in place in order to short-circuit your ability to act in your own best interests, even if just for a split second.
    Amanda Mull, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2023
  • However, keep in mind that presenting a scientist with an equation written in feet and pounds may short-circuit their brains.
    Sarah Wells, Popular Mechanics, 10 May 2023
  • That becomes even more essential as climate change brings higher winds and flooding, the biggest risks for a reactor short-circuit.
    Colette Davidson, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 May 2023
  • While the Senate is usually hobbled by its rules from quick action, Schumer and McConnell used their clout to short-circuit delaying tactics.
    Laura Litvan, Bloomberg.com, 2 June 2023
  • And Trump’s superhuman ability to short-circuit the news cycle had lessened—though only to a degree.
    Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 10 Oct. 2023
  • Officials tried to short-circuit the logic of a bank run and restore depositors’ confidence that their money is safe.
    Jeff Stein, Anchorage Daily News, 13 Mar. 2023
  • Many feared that war on inflation would cause unemployment to surge and short-circuit the economic recovery from Covid-19.
    Matt Egan, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024
  • At issue is a 12-volt battery cable that may be missing a fuse, potentially causing the cable to short-circuit or overheat during a crash.
    Rob Wile, NBC News, 20 Dec. 2023
  • Boston is a two-time national defensive player of the year who can short-circuit entire offenses, while Clark is a gunslinger who thinks nothing of pulling up from the logo.
    Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, 31 Mar. 2023
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short circuit

2 of 2 noun
  • The fire was caused by a short circuit.
  • There are times when the space heater could overpower the cord and cause it to short circuit.
    Joe Mario Pedersen, orlandosentinel.com, 2 Dec. 2020
  • The short circuit from the balloon can also cause power lines to fall to the ground.
    Bridget Fogarty, Journal Sentinel, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Some of the work seemed haphazard, and machine bundling of the wires left them open to short circuits.
    Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 16 July 2019
  • And so impeachment, in a way, would short circuit that.
    Time Staff, Time, 17 Apr. 2018
  • Lithium dendrite can cause a short circuit that sparks a fire, Chen wrote.
    Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press, 1 Mar. 2024
  • Sometimes, when people do nice things to me, I short circuit.
    Peggy Truong, Cosmopolitan, 19 Mar. 2018
  • This defect can result in a higher risk of crash if the short circuit happens while the car is in use.
    Lauren M. Johnson, CNN, 24 Oct. 2019
  • Officials said the fire was caused by a short circuit that came amid heavy rain in Moscow.
    BostonGlobe.com, 12 Dec. 2022
  • The statement says the exact cause of the short circuit is unknown and that there have been no crashes or injuries.
    Tom Krisher, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Authorities at one point said the fire was caused by a short circuit.
    Fox News, 14 July 2021
  • The blaze, started by a short circuit in a piece of charging equipment, had torn through the tent in which everything was housed.
    Jonathan Hawkins, CNN, 8 July 2019
  • The damage could cause a short circuit that, because there’s no fuse in the circuitry, could lead to overheating and a fire.
    Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 2 June 2023
  • Jay saw his first fatal fire in high school, when a short circuit lit up an old man's house early one morning on the next block over.
    Sean Flynn, Esquire, 9 Mar. 2017
  • As a result, water may leak into the cameras and short circuit.
    Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 25 June 2024
  • Even in its game against Kentucky, Ole Miss might have given up 30-plus points if the Wildcats didn’t short circuit in the red zone and on special teams.
    Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 20 Oct. 2022
  • And that was a world in which the tubes often blew, and bugs in the system were literal ones, namely insects that caused short circuits.
    The Economist, 22 Feb. 2018
  • Most designs aren't a fire or electrical hazard, as the batteries shut off in the event of a short circuit.
    Theresa Holland, Travel + Leisure, 1 Mar. 2023
  • But the Supreme Court cannot short circuit this process or provide special protections for Trump.
    Ray Brescia / Made By History, TIME, 20 May 2024
  • There was no short circuit on an electrical device in his room.
    Richard Obert, The Arizona Republic, 10 June 2022
  • So when a short circuit hit the grid, the suddenly imbalanced system didn’t adjust to it as planned and the grid collapsed.
    Washington Post, 3 July 2019
  • This can be caused by an overloaded circuit, short circuit or ground fault.
    azcentral, 1 Aug. 2019
  • And admitting privileges laws are just a short circuit to get there.
    Kate Smith, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2019
  • That punch loomed like an executioner’s sword, and when Davis landed it against the ropes in the sixth, Santa Cruz’s body seemed to short circuit.
    Childs Walker, baltimoresun.com, 2 Nov. 2020
  • Salt may also connect to cravings via a short circuit in the gut microbiome.
    Christopher Damman, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2024
  • Doing so, is known as creating a short circuit and could cause the wires and the batteries to get extremely hot.
    Rachelle Doorley, Parents, 16 Aug. 2023
  • The problem is that the dendrites bore through the electrolyte over time and cause a short circuit during charging, reducing the battery's life span.
    Roberto Baldwin, Ars Technica, 2 Nov. 2022
  • The recent review of changes to the Max raised the question whether a wiring short circuit could also cause a runaway stabilizer.
    Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2020
  • Electric vehicles with lithium ion batteries can catch fire if the batteries short circuit and start to heat up.
    Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2024
  • The recall notice says the wire may rub on other components near the engine, wearing down the wire's outer casing which could lead to a short circuit and a loss of electrical power with little or no warning.
    Rick Barrett, Journal Sentinel, 25 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'short-circuit.' 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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