Short vs. Tall — What's the Difference?

Measuring a small distance from end to end

Of great or more than average height, especially (with reference to an object) relative to width

Lasting or taking a small amount of time

Having greater than ordinary height

Relatively small in extent

Having considerable height, especially in relation to width; lofty

(of a vowel) categorized as short with regard to quality and length (e.g. in standard British English the vowel /ʊ/ in good is short as distinct from the long vowel /uː/ in food).

Having a specified height

(of a person) terse; uncivil

(Informal) Fanciful or exaggerated; boastful

(of odds or a chance) reflecting or representing a high level of probability

Impressively great or difficult

(of pastry) containing a high proportion of fat to flour and therefore crumbly.

(Obsolete) Excellent; fine.

(chiefly in sport) at, to, or over a relatively small distance

With proud bearing; straight

A drink of spirits served in a small measure.

(of a person) Having a vertical extent greater than the average. For example, somebody with a height of over 6 feet would generally be considered to be tall.

A short film as opposed to a feature film.

(of a building, etc.) Having its top a long way up; having a great vertical (and often greater than horizontal) extent; high.

A short sound such as a short signal in Morse code or a short vowel or syllable

(of a story) Hard to believe, such as a tall story or a tall tale.

A short circuit.

Smaller than grande, usually 8 ounces (~ 230 ml).

A person who sells short.

(obsolete) Obsequious; obedient.

A mixture of bran and coarse flour.

(obsolete) Seemly; suitable; fitting, becoming, comely; attractive, handsome.

Short-circuit or cause to short-circuit

(obsolete) Bold; brave; courageous; valiant.

Sell (stocks or other securities or commodities) in advance of acquiring them, with the aim of making a profit when the price falls

(archaic) Fine; proper; admirable; great; excellent.

Having little length; not long.

Someone or something that is tall.

Having little height; not tall.

A clothing size for taller people.

Extending or traveling not far or not far enough

A tall serving of a drink, especially one from Starbucks, which contains 12 ounces.

Lasting a brief time

High in stature; having a considerable, or an unusual, extension upward; long and comparatively slender; having the diameter or lateral extent small in proportion to the height; as, a tall person, tree, or mast.

Appearing to pass quickly

Brave; bold; courageous.

Not lengthy; succinct

Fine; splendid; excellent; also, extravagant; excessive.

Rudely brief; abrupt

Great in vertical dimension; high in stature;

Easily provoked; irascible

Lofty in style;

Inadequate; insufficient

Impressively difficult;

Lacking in length or amount

Too improbable to admit of belief;

Lacking in breadth or scope

Deficient in retentiveness

Holding a trading position that is inversely related to the price of a security or index

Of or relating to a short sale

Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky

Not ductile; brittle

(Linguistics) Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mălus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."

(Grammar) Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ă) in pat or () in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.

Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.

(Slang) Close to the end of a tour of military duty.

Abruptly; quickly

In a rude or curt manner.

At a point before a given boundary, limit, or goal

At a disadvantage

By means of a short sale

(Linguistics) A short syllable, vowel, or consonant.

A brief film; a short subject.

A size of clothing less long than the average for that size.

Shorts Short pants extending to the knee or above.

Shorts Undershorts.

A short sale.

One that sells short.

Shorts A byproduct of wheat processing that consists of germ, bran, and coarse meal or flour.

Shorts Clippings or trimmings that remain as byproducts in various manufacturing processes, often used to make an inferior variety of the product.

A short circuit.

A malfunction caused by a short circuit.

(Baseball) A shortstop.

To cause a short circuit in.

(Informal) To give (one) less than one is entitled to; shortchange.

To short-sell (a security or index).

To short-circuit.

Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

(of a person) Of comparatively small height.

Having little duration.

(followed by for) Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).

That is relatively close to the batsman.

Bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.

That falls short of the green or the hole.

(gambling) Of betting odds, offering a small return for the money wagered.

Brittle, crumbly. See shortbread, shortcake, shortcrust, shortening, hot short, cold-short.

Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.

Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.

Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied, especially with money; scantily furnished; lacking.

Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.

(colloquial) Undiluted; neat.

(obsolete) Not distant in time; near at hand.

(finance) Being in a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.

(by extension) Doubtful of, skeptical of.

Of money: given in the fewest possible notes, i.e. those of the largest denomination.

Abruptly, curtly, briefly.

Unawares.

Without achieving a goal or requirement.

Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.

(finance) With a negative ownership position.

A short circuit.

A short film.

A short version of a garment in a particular size.

(baseball) A shortstop.

(finance) A short seller.

(finance) A short sale or short position.

A summary account.

(phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

(programming) An integer variable having a smaller range than normal integers; usually two bytes long.

An automobile; especially in crack shorts, to break into automobiles.

(transitive) To cause a short circuit in (something).

To short circuit.

(transitive) To shortchange.

To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.

To sell something, especially securities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; to sell short.

(obsolete) To shorten.

Deficient in.

(finance) Having a negative position in.

Not long; having brief length or linear extension; as, a short distance; a short piece of timber; a short flight.

Not extended in time; having very limited duration; not protracted; as, short breath.

Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty; as, a short supply of provisions, or of water.

Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking; not coming up to a resonable, or the ordinary, standard; - usually with of; as, to be short of money.

Deficient; defective; imperfect; not coming up, as to a measure or standard; as, an account which is short of the trith.

Not distant in time; near at hand.

Limited in intellectual power or grasp; not comprehensive; narrow; not tenacious, as memory.

Less important, efficaceous, or powerful; not equal or equivalent; less (than); - with of.

Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant; as, he gave a short answer to the question.

Breaking or crumbling readily in the mouth; crisp; as, short pastry.

Brittle.

Not prolonged, or relatively less prolonged, in utterance; - opposed to long, and applied to vowels or to syllables. In English, the long and short of the same letter are not, in most cases, the long and short of the same sound; thus, the i in ill is the short sound, not of i in isle, but of ee in eel, and the e in pet is the short sound of a in pate, etc. See Quantity, and Guide to Pronunciation, 22, 30.

A summary account.

The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran.

Short, inferior hemp.

Breeches; shortclothes.

A short sound, syllable, or vowel.

In a short manner; briefly; limitedly; abruptly; quickly; as, to stop short in one's course; to turn short.

To shorten.

To fail; to decrease.

The location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed

Accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference

The fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed between 2nd and 3rd base

Cheat someone by not returning him enough money

Create a short-circuit in

Primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration;

Primarily spatial sense; having little length or lacking in length;

Low in stature; not tall;

Not sufficient to meet a need;

Not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices;

Of speech sounds (especially vowels) of relatively short duration (as e.g. the English vowel sounds in `pat', `pet', `pit', `pot', putt')

Containing a large amount of shortening; therefore tender and easy to crumble or break into flakes;

Less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so;

Used of syllables that are unaccented or of relatively brief duration

(of memory) deficient in retentiveness or range;

Lacking foresight or scope;

Unwilling to endure;

Quickly aroused to anger;

Most direct;

Marked by rude or peremptory shortness;

Quickly and without warning;

Without possessing something at the time it is contractually sold;

Clean across;

At some point or distance before a goal is reached;

So as to interrupt;

At a disadvantage;

Tightly;

In a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner;