short

1. n. a small drink of hard liquor or of beer.

□ One short, bartender.

□ I’ll have a short and a pack of cigarettes.

2. mod. having to do with a single drink of undiluted liquor.

□ I’ll take mine short, innkeeper.

□ Who ordered a short one?

3. n. a purchase of drugs that counts or eighs out less than the amount agreed upon.

□ You gave me a short. Fix it now, or this thing goes off accidentally in your ear.

4. tv. to give someone less of something than was agreed upon.

□ You shorted me!

□ They shorted us on the last order, so we switched suppliers.

5. n. a car. (Streets.)

□ Man, that’s some short you got!

□ Max gets his money cracking shorts.

6. n. the sale of borrowed shares of stock; a short sale. (Securities markets.)

□ I think that IBM is a good short in here. The high-tech companies are in for a pullback.

□ There is a lot of covering of shorts this week. After that the market is in for a steady decline.

7. tv. to sell borrowed stock. (Securities markets.)

□ I wouldn’t short IBM. It’s a long-term hold.

□ The way the deficit is running, I’d short the whole market.