Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The quality or state of being short.
  • noun Fewness of words; brevity; conciseness.
  • noun Want of reach, or of the power of retention: as, the shortness of the memory.
  • noun Deficiency; imperfection; limited extent; poverty: as, the shortness of our reason; shortness of provisious.
  • noun Curtness; sharpness: as, her temper was evident from the shortness of her answers.
  • noun Brittleness; friability; crispness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality or state of being short; want of reach or extension; brevity; deficiency.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The property of being short, of being small of stature or brief.
  • noun countable The result or product of being short.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the property of being of short temporal extent
  • noun the condition of being short of something
  • noun the property of being truncated or short
  • noun the property of being of short spatial extent
  • noun the property of being shorter than average stature
  • noun an abrupt discourteous manner

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From short +‎ -ness

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Examples

  • During Yar'Adua's 2007 presidential campaign, he left the country two weeks before the vote to receive medical care in Germany after experiencing what he described as a shortness of breath.

    phillyBurbs.com: Home RSS feed 2010

  • During Yar'Adua's 2007 presidential campaign, he left the country two weeks before the vote to receive medical care in Germany after experiencing what he described as a shortness of breath.

    Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7 Jon Gambrell 2010

  • During his 2007 presidential campaign, he left the country two weeks before the vote to receive medical care in Germany after experiencing what he described as a shortness of breath.

    News24 Top Stories 2010

  • Some patients have long-term shortness of breath with episodes of increased shortness of breath.

    Apple Juice Shown to Prevent Asthma in Children | Impact Lab 2007

  • 1 Mayyafarikin, whose adjective for shortness is “Fárikí”: the place is often mentioned in The Nights as the then capital of Diyár Bakr, thirty parasangs from Násibín, the classical Nisibis, between the upper Euphrates and Tigris.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • There was a great deal of concern here in Washington, across the United States yesterday, when the vice president made an unexpected trip to the hospital after experiencing what was described as a shortness of breath.

    CNN Transcript Nov 14, 2004 2004

  • "You can't call a shortness left from a broken leg LAME!"

    Sisters Kathleen Thompson Norris 1923

  • If you have any unusual symptoms, such as shortness of breath, wheezing, or difficulty taking fluids, you should seek immediate help.

    Facts About Swine Flu 2009

  • If you have any unusual symptoms, such as shortness of breath, wheezing, or difficulty taking fluids, you should seek immediate help.

    Facts About Swine Flu 2009

  • In children with trisomy 21, PDAs are less likely to close; however, because Katie was not experiencing symptoms such as shortness of breath, Dr. Gleason assured her parents that the best tactic was to monitor, rather than immediately treat, the abnormality.

    Patent Ductus Arteriosus -- Katie 2010

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