Shortest

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Short \Short\, a. [Compar. {Shorter}; superl. {Shortest}.] [OE.
     short, schort, AS. scort, sceort; akin to OHG. scurz, Icel.
     skorta to be short of, to lack, and perhaps to E. shear, v.
     t. Cf. {Shirt}.]
     1. Not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a
        short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight.


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              The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch
              himself on it.                        --Isa. xxviii.
                                                    20.
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     2. Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not
        protracted; as, short breath.
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              The life so short, the craft so long to learn.
                                                    --Chaucer.
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              To short absense I could yield.       --Milton.
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     3. Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as,
        a short supply of provisions, or of water.
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     4. Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily
        furnished; lacking; not coming up to a resonable, or the
        ordinary, standard; -- usually with of; as, to be short of
        money.
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              We shall be short in our provision.   --Shak.
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     5. Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a
        measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the
        trith.
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     6. Not distant in time; near at hand.
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              Marinell was sore offended
              That his departure thence should be so short.
                                                    --Spenser.
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              He commanded those who were appointed to attend him
              to be ready by a short day.           --Clarendon.
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     7. Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive;
        narrow; not tenacious, as memory.
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              Their own short understandings reach
              No farther than the present.          --Rowe.
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     8. Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or
        equivalent; less (than); -- with of.
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              Hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse
              them again to war.                    --Landor.
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     9. Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short
        answer to the question.
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     10. (Cookery) Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth;
         crisp; as, short pastry.
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     11. (Metal) Brittle.
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     Note: Metals that are brittle when hot are called ?ot-short;
           as, cast iron may be hot-short, owing to the presence
           of sulphur. Those that are brittle when cold are called
           cold-short; as, cast iron may be cold-short, on account
           of the presence of phosphorus.
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     12. (Stock Exchange) Engaging or engaged to deliver what is
         not possessed; as, short contracts; to be short of stock.
         See The shorts, under {Short}, n., and To sell short,
         under {Short}, adv.
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     Note: In mercantile transactions, a note or bill is sometimes
           made payable at short sight, that is, in a little time
           after being presented to the payer.
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     13. (Phon.) Not prolonged, or relatively less prolonged, in
         utterance; -- opposed to {long}, and applied to vowels or
         to syllables. In English, the long and short of the same
         letter are not, in most cases, the long and short of the
         same sound; thus, the i in ill is the short sound, not of
         i in isle, but of ee in eel, and the e in pet is the
         short sound of a in pate, etc. See {Quantity}, and Guide
         to Pronunciation, [sect][sect]22, 30.
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     Note: Short is much used with participles to form numerous
           self-explaining compounds; as, short-armed,
           short-billed, short-fingered, short-haired,
           short-necked, short-sleeved, short-tailed,
           short-winged, short-wooled, etc.
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     {At short notice}, in a brief time; promptly.
  
     {Short rib} (Anat.), one of the false ribs.
  
     {Short suit} (Whist), any suit having only three cards, or
        less than three. --R. A. Proctor.
  
     {To come short}, {To cut short}, {To fall short}, etc. See
        under {Come}, {Cut}, etc.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  shortest
       adj : most direct; "took the shortest and most direct route to
             town" [syn: {short}]