: being the member of a pair of similarly spelled vowel or vowel-containing sounds that is descended from a vowel that was short in duration but is no longer so and that does not necessarily have duration as its chief distinguishing feature
Define short. short synonyms, short pronunciation, short translation, English dictionary definition of short. adj. short er , short est 1. Having little length; not long. 2. Having little height; not tall. 3. Extending or traveling not far or not far enough: a short...
Short, brief are opposed to long, and indicate slight extent or duration. Short may imply duration but is also applied to physical distance and certain purely spatial relations: a short journey.Brief refers esp. to duration of time: brief intervals.
The adjective short describes things that aren't long when you measure them, or have a small distance from one end to another, like your short hair or the short walk to the library.