shore
1280
thinking of places on maps, of weather, or of naval
defence: It is difficult to walk on such a rocky shore. | a
holiday on the north coast of Spain. The seaside BrE ||
coast AmE or the beach is the area by the sea
considered as a place of enjoyment: digging in the sand
at the seaside. A beach is part of the shore that is
smooth, without cliffs or rocks. The only words that can
be used of lakes are shore and (of a large lake) beach.
shore² v [T(UP)] to support (something that is in danger of
falling) e.g. with a large piece of wood: We had to shore up
the damaged wall. | (fig.) They tried to shore up the failing
economy by means of tax increases.
'shore leave n [U] time allowed for sailors to leave their
ships and go on shore
shore-line /'ʃɔlaɪn||'ɔːr-/ n [C,U] the land along the edge
of a large area of water such as an ocean or lake: A group of
men stood silently on the shoreline. | the bay's 13000 km of
shoreline
shorn /ʃɔːn||ʃɔːrn/ past participle of SHEAR
short¹ /ʃɔːt||ʃɔːrt/ adj 1 measuring a small or smaller than
average amount from one end to the other; little in distance
or length (opposite long) or in height (opposite tall): It's only
a short way/distance from here. | She had her hair cut short. |
A straight line is the shortest distance between two points. |
He's rather a short man, shorter than his wife. 2 [F+for] a
shorter (and often more usual) form of, or way of saying:
The word 'pub' is short for 'public house'. → see also
SHORT 3 lasting only a little time, or less time than usual or
expected: a short visit of only half an hour | She was here a
short while ago. | I have such a short memory; I can't remem-
ber what you told me yesterday. | His speech was short and to
the point. | The signal for the fire alarm is three short rings
followed by one long ring. | Because of the emergency, a
meeting had to be arranged at short notice. (=not a long
time in advance) → opposite LONG 4 [(of)] not having or
providing what is needed; failing to reach an acceptable
level or standard: 'I'm short of money this week; can you lend
me some?' 'Sorry: I'm rather short myself.' | The shopkeeper
was found guilty of using short weights/measures. | These
goods are in short supply so the price will be high. | [after n] I
need £1 but I'm 5p short: I've only got 95p. | Our car broke
down only two miles short of the town. → see LACK
(USAGE) 5 [F+on] infml without very much or enough of
(especially a desirable quality): He's a nice boy but short on
brains. (=not clever) → opposite long on (LONG¹) 6 [(with)]
rudely impatient; CURT: I'm sorry I was a bit short with you
on the phone this morning — I was rather busy. → see also
SHORT-TEMPERED 7 (of a speech sound) pronounced quickly
or without force /æ/ as in 'cat', is a short vowel, but /aɪ/ as in
'cart', is long. 8 (of pastry) falling easily into pieces; CRUM-
BLY 9 make short work of infml to deal with or defeat
quickly and easily: The children made short work of the
meal. 10 nothing short of (used to add force to a statement)
nothing less than: The closure of the factory will be nothing
short of a disaster/of disastrous for the people in the
area. 11 short and sweet infml or humor not wasting time or
words; short and direct in expression: The chairman's speech
was short and sweet. 12 short of a) not quite reaching; up
to but not including: We'd tried everything to get our money
short of actually suing them. b) except for; without: Short
of calling a protest meeting I don't know how we can show our
opposition. → see also SHORTLY 13 short sharp shock a
sudden unpleasant experience, especially one intended as a
punishment. The phrase originally comes from W S GILBERT'S
OPERA The Mikado (1885), and was later used by British
Conservative politicians to describe a system of short but
firm punishments for young criminals. ———ness n [U]
short² adv 1 suddenly; in an ABRUPT way: The driver stopped
short when the child ran into the street. | I'm afraid I must stop
you short there, minister, as we're running out of time on the
programme. → see also stop short of (STOP) 2 be taken/
caught short BrE infml to have a sudden and strong need,
especially to go to the TOILET 3 go short (of) to be without
enough (of): I'm giving my dinner to the children; they
mustn't go short (of food). 4 run short (of) a) to use almost
all one has (of); not have enough left: We've run short of
oil. b) to become less than enough: The supply of oil is
running short. → see also cut something short (CUT), fall
short (FALL), sell something/someone short (SELL)
short³ n 1 infml a short film shown before the main film at a
cinema 2 BrE infml a drink of strong alcohol, such as WHISKY or
GIN 3 infml for SHORT CIRCUIT 4 for short as a shorter way of
saying it: My name is David, or Dave for short. → see also
SHORT 5 in short to put it into as few words as possible; all
I mean is: This is our most disastrous and embarrassing
defeat ever; in short, a fiasco. → see also SHORTS
short⁴ v [I;T] infml for SHORT-CIRCUIT
Short, Clare /kleə/ (1946–) a British politician in the
LABOUR PARTY, who became the Secretary of State (=chief
minister) for International Development in 1997. She is
thought of as someone who has strong SOCIALIST beliefs and
who is more willing than most politicians to say exactly
what she thinks. Because of this, many people admire her,
but she has often been criticized by leaders of her own party.
She decided to leave the government in 2003, saying that
the Prime Minister had broken his promise to her about
going to war with Iraq.
short-age /'ʃɔːtɪdʒ||'ʃɔrt-/ n [C;U(of)] a condition of having
less than is needed; an amount lacking: There were severe
food shortages during the war. | There's no shortage of skilled
workers but there aren't enough jobs for them.
,short back and 'sides n [S] BrE a man's haircut in which
the hair round the ears and at the back of the neck is cut
very short. Men in the armed forces usually have haircuts
like this.
short-bread /'ʃɔːtbred||'ʃɔːrt-/ n [U] a hard sweet BISCUIT
made with a lot of butter
short-cake /'ʃɔːtkeɪk||'ʃɔːrt-/ n [U] 1 BrE thick short
bread 2 AmE cake, usually of a kind like SCONES, over which
sweetened fruit is poured: strawberry shortcake
,short-'change v [T] 1 to give back less than enough
money to (a buyer who has paid for something with more
than the exact money) 2 infml to cheat or fail to reward
fairly: When the band only played for 15 minutes the fans felt
they had been shortchanged.
,short 'circuit n a faulty electrical connection that makes
the current flow along the wrong path and so usually puts
the power supply out of operation
short-circuit v 1 [I;T] to (cause to) have a SHORT CIR-
CUIT 2 [T] to get something done without going through
BYPASS: I short-circuited the usual procedures by a simple
telephone call.
short-com-ing /'ʃɔtˌkʌmɪŋ||'ʃɔːrt-/ n [usually pl.] a fault or
failing; DEFECT: In spite of all her shortcomings I still think
she's one of the best teachers in the school. | The inspection
revealed serious shortcomings in our safety procedures.
short-crust pas-try /ˌʃɔtkrʌst 'peɪstrɪ||ˌʃɔːrt-/ n a pastry
used for PIES, FLANS etc, made with half as much fat as flour
,short 'cut /../ n [(to)] a quicker more direct way than the
usual way: We were late for school, so we took a short cut
across the fields. | (fig.) There aren't really any short cuts to
learning English.
short-en /'ʃɔːtən||'ʃɔːrtən/ v [I;T] to make or become shorter:
to shorten a skirt/a report → opposite LENGTHEN
short-en-ing /'ʃɔtənɪŋ||'ʃɔːrt-/ n [U] fat for combining with
flour in pastry mixtures
short-fall /'ʃɔːtfɔːl||'ʃɔːrt-/ n [(of, in)] an amount by which
something fails to reach the amount that is needed,
expected, or hoped for: We now expect a shortfall of about £1
million in the company's profits because of the sudden rise in
the cost of materials.
short-hand /'ʃɔːthænd||'ʃɔːrt-/ n [U] 1 also stenography
AmE — fast writing in a system using signs or shorter forms
for letters, words, phrases etc: The secretary made notes in
shorthand/made shorthand notes. → compare LONG
HAND 2 [(for)] a shorter and often purposely less clear way of
expressing something: He's been 'relocated', which is govern-
ment shorthand for 'given a worse job a long way away'.
short-hand-ed /ˌʃɔːt'hændɪd ||ˌʃɔrt-/ adj lacking the nec-
essary number of helpers or workers: A lot of people are on
holiday this month, so we're a bit shorthanded.