short of

preposition

: other than

especially : of a lesser degree than

had few options short of replacing the motor

Examples of short of in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Reservoirs in the country were 28% short of full capacity at the end of September and posed a risk to winter crops, according to a report by Nomura on Monday. — Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026

That mileage does fall well short of the 258-mile (415-km) max range Kia PV5 converters are citing from the same 71-kWh battery capacity, but the tradeoff comes in a considerably larger the van for hosting a camping layout. — New Atlas, 7 Oct. 2026

By the end of April, Republican Commissioner Allen Dickerson had resigned, leaving the FEC one member short of a quorum. — Gabe Kaminsky, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026

Here, again, the Down entry is two identical vowels short of the longer Across one. — New York Times, 7 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1560, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for short of

• above
• foxglove
• hereof
• thereof
• whereof
• dove
• glove
• love
• shove
• hereinabove