short of

English

Phrase

short of

1. Except; but; without resorting to; up to the point of.

   He tried everything short of lending her the money himself.

2. Insufficiently equipped with.

   He's a nice person, but a bit short of brains.

3. Less than.

   An Olympic athlete cannot perform at any level short of world-class.

Usage notes

• "Short of" is often used in full-deckisms such as "a few sandwiches short of a picnic" (i.e. "foolish" or "insane"). See "a few X short of a Y" in Appendix:English snowclones.

Translations

except — see except

insufficiently equipped with

• French: à court (fr) de
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• Scottish Gaelic: gann de

less than

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