| contraction | | |
| n. (act) | 1. contraction, muscle contraction, muscular contraction | (physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber). |
| ~ shortening | act of decreasing in length.; "the dress needs shortening" |
| ~ contracture | an abnormal and usually permanent contraction of a muscle. |
| ~ tetanus | a sustained muscular contraction resulting from a rapid series of nerve impulses. |
| ~ uterine contraction | a rhythmic tightening in labor of the upper uterine musculature that contracts the size of the uterus and pushes the fetus toward the birth canal. |
| ~ braxton-hicks contraction, false labor | painless contractions of the muscles of the uterus that continue throughout pregnancy with increasing frequency. |
| ~ vaginismus | muscular contraction that causes the vagina to close; usually an anxiety reaction before coitus or pelvic examination. |
| ~ physiology | the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms. |
| n. (event) | 2. compression, condensation, contraction | the process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together.; "the contraction of a gas on cooling" |
| ~ shrinkage, shrinking | process or result of becoming less or smaller.; "the material lost 2 inches per yard in shrinkage" |
| ~ coarctation, constriction | tight or narrow compression. |
| n. (communication) | 3. contraction | a word formed from two or more words by omitting or combining some sounds.; "`won't' is a contraction of `will not'"; "`o'clock' is a contraction of `of the clock'" |
| ~ word | a unit of language that native speakers can identify.; "words are the blocks from which sentences are made"; "he hardly said ten words all morning" |
| n. (act) | 4. contraction | the act of decreasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope. |
| ~ reduction, step-down, diminution, decrease | the act of decreasing or reducing something. |
| short | | |
| n. (artifact) | 1. short | the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed. |
| ~ baseball diamond, infield, diamond | the area of a baseball field that is enclosed by 3 bases and home plate. |
| ~ parcel of land, piece of ground, piece of land, tract, parcel | an extended area of land. |
| n. (artifact) | 2. short, short circuit | accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference. |
| ~ circuit, electric circuit, electrical circuit | an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow. |
| ~ tangency, contact | (electronics) a junction where things (as two electrical conductors) touch or are in physical contact.; "they forget to solder the contacts" |
| n. (act) | 3. short, shortstop | the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between second and third base. |
| ~ position | (in team sports) the role assigned to an individual player.; "what position does he play?" |
| ~ baseball team | a team that plays baseball. |
| v. (social) | 4. short, short-change | cheat someone by not returning him enough money. |
| ~ bunco, con, defraud, diddle, gip, goldbrick, gyp, hornswoggle, mulct, nobble, rook, scam, swindle, short-change, victimize | deprive of by deceit.; "He swindled me out of my inheritance"; "She defrauded the customers who trusted her"; "the cashier gypped me when he gave me too little change" |
| v. (creation) | 5. short, short-circuit | create a short circuit in. |
| ~ create, make | make or cause to be or to become.; "make a mess in one's office"; "create a furor" |
| adj. | 6. short | primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration.; "a short life"; "a short flight"; "a short holiday"; "a short story"; "only a few short months" |
| ~ truncated, abbreviated, shortened | cut short in duration.; "the abbreviated speech"; "her shortened life was clearly the result of smoking"; "an unsatisfactory truncated conversation" |
| ~ brief | of short duration or distance.; "a brief stay in the country" |
| ~ clipped | (of speech) having quick short sounds.; "a clipped upper-class accent" |
| ~ fleeting, fugitive, momentaneous, momentary | lasting for a markedly brief time.; "a fleeting glance"; "fugitive hours"; "rapid momentaneous association of things that meet and pass"; "a momentary glimpse" |
| ~ short and sweet | dealt with very quickly; to the point.; "the conference was short and sweet"; "make your statement short and sweet" |
| ~ short-dated | of a gilt-edged security; having less than 5 years to run before redemption. |
| ~ short-range | relating to the near future.; "a short-range policy" |
| ~ short-run, short-term | relating to or extending over a limited period.; "short-run planning"; "a short-term lease"; "short-term credit" |
| adj. | 7. short | (primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in length.; "short skirts"; "short hair"; "the board was a foot short"; "a short toss" |
| ~ abbreviated, brief | (of clothing) very short.; "an abbreviated swimsuit"; "a brief bikini" |
| ~ close | used of hair or haircuts.; "a close military haircut" |
| ~ curtal | (obsolete) cut short.; "a dog with a curtal tail" |
| ~ shortened, sawed-off, sawn-off | cut short.; "a sawed-off shotgun"; "a sawed-off broomstick"; "the shortened rope was easier to use" |
| ~ shortish | somewhat short. |
| ~ short-range | limited to short distances.; "short-range planes"; "a short-range shot" |
| ~ short-snouted | having a snout that is shorter than average. |
| ~ snub | unusually short.; "a snub nose" |
| ~ stubby | short and blunt.; "stubby fingers"; "a stubby pencil" |
| ~ telescoped, shortened | shortened by or as if by means of parts that slide one within another or are crushed one into another.; "a miracle that anyone survived in the telescoped cars"; "years that seemed telescoped like time in a dream" |
| ~ truncate, truncated | terminating abruptly by having or as if having an end or point cut off.; "a truncate leaf"; "truncated volcanic mountains"; "a truncated pyramid" |
| adj. | 8. little, short | low in stature; not tall.; "he was short and stocky"; "short in stature"; "a short smokestack"; "a little man" |
| ~ low | literal meanings; being at or having a relatively small elevation or upward extension.; "low ceilings"; "low clouds"; "low hills"; "the sun is low"; "low furniture"; "a low bow" |
| ~ low-set, squat, squatty, stumpy, chunky, dumpy | short and thick; as e.g. having short legs and heavy musculature.; "some people seem born to be square and chunky"; "a dumpy little dumpling of a woman"; "dachshunds are long lowset dogs with drooping ears"; "a little church with a squat tower"; "a squatty red smokestack"; "a stumpy ungainly figure" |
| ~ heavyset, stocky, thickset, compact, thick | having a short and solid form or stature.; "a wrestler of compact build"; "he was tall and heavyset"; "stocky legs"; "a thickset young man" |
| ~ half-length | representing only the upper half of the body.; "a half-length portrait" |
| ~ pint-size, pint-sized, runty, sawed-off, sawn-off | well below average height. |
| ~ short-stalked | of plants having relatively short stalks. |
| ~ squab, squabby | short and fat. |
| adj. | 9. inadequate, poor, short | not sufficient to meet a need.; "an inadequate income"; "a poor salary"; "money is short"; "on short rations"; "food is in short supply"; "short on experience" |
| ~ insufficient, deficient | of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement.; "insufficient funds" |
| adj. | 10. forgetful, short, unretentive | (of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range.; "a short memory" |
| ~ unmindful, forgetful, mindless | not mindful or attentive.; "while thus unmindful of his steps he stumbled" |
| adj. | 11. short | not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices.; "a short sale"; "short in cotton" |
| ~ finance | the branch of economics that studies the management of money and other assets. |
| adj. | 12. short | of speech sounds or syllables of relatively short duration.; "the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt' are short" |
| ~ phonetics | the branch of acoustics concerned with speech processes including its production and perception and acoustic analysis. |
| adj. | 13. light, scant, short | less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so.; "a light pound"; "a scant cup of sugar"; "regularly gives short weight" |
| ~ insufficient, deficient | of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement.; "insufficient funds" |
| adj. | 14. myopic, short, shortsighted, unforesightful | lacking foresight or scope.; "a short view of the problem"; "shortsighted policies"; "shortsighted critics derided the plan"; "myopic thinking" |
| ~ improvident | not provident; not providing for the future. |
| adj. | 15. short | tending to crumble or break into flakes due to a large amount of shortening.; "shortbread is a short crumbly cookie"; "a short flaky pie crust" |
| ~ breakable | capable of being broken or damaged.; "earthenware pottery is breakable"; "breakable articles should be packed carefully" |
| adj. | 16. brusk, brusque, curt, short | marked by rude or peremptory shortness.; "try to cultivate a less brusque manner"; "a curt reply"; "the salesgirl was very short with him" |
| ~ discourteous | showing no courtesy; rude.; "a distant and at times discourteous young" |
| adv. | 17. abruptly, dead, short, suddenly | quickly and without warning.; "he stopped suddenly" |
| adv. | 18. short | without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold.; "he made his fortune by selling short just before the crash" |
| ~ finance | the branch of economics that studies the management of money and other assets. |
| adv. | 19. short | clean across.; "the car's axle snapped short" |
| adv. | 20. short | at some point or distance before a goal is reached.; "he fell short of our expectations" |
| adv. | 21. short | so as to interrupt.; "She took him up short before he could continue" |
| adv. | 22. short, unawares | at a disadvantage.; "I was caught short" |
| adv. | 23. curtly, short, shortly | in a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner.; "he told me curtly to get on with it"; "he talked short with everyone"; "he said shortly that he didn't like it" |
| terse | | |
| adj. | 1. crisp, curt, laconic, terse | brief and to the point; effectively cut short.; "a crisp retort"; "a response so curt as to be almost rude"; "the laconic reply; `yes'"; "short and terse and easy to understand" |
| ~ concise | expressing much in few words.; "a concise explanation" |
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