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Before vs Short - What's the difference?

before | short |

As a preposition before

is earlier than (in time).

As an adverb before

is at an earlier time.

As a conjunction before

is in advance of the time when.

As a proper noun short is

.

before

English

Preposition

(English prepositions)
  • Earlier than (in time).
  • * (Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)
    • Before this treatise can become of use, two points are necessary.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 11, author=Rory Houston, work=RTE Sport
    • , title= Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland , passage=Stephen Ward then had to time his tackle excellently to deny Tarmo Kink as the Wolves winger slid the ball out of play before the Estonian could attempt to beat Given.}}
  • In front of in space.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
    • His angel, who shall go / Before them in a cloud and pillar of fire.
  • *
    • He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance.she found her mother standing up before the seat on which she had sat all the evening searching anxiously for her with her eyes, and her father by her side.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)
    • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.}}
  • Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).
  • * (John Ayliffe) (1676-1732)
    • If a suit be begun before an archdeacon
  • In store for, in the future of (someone).
  • * (Thomas Carlyle) (1795-1881)
    • The golden ageis before us.
  • In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.
  • At a higher or greater position in a ranking.
  • * (Bible), (w) i. 15
    • He that cometh after me is preferred before me.
  • * (Samuel Johnson) (1709-1784)
    • The eldest son is before the younger in succession.

    Synonyms

    * (earlier than in time) by, no later than * (in front of in space) ahead of, in front of * (in front of according to an ordering system) ahead of

    Antonyms

    * (earlier than in time) after, later than * (in front of in space) behind * (in front of according to an ordering system) after

    Adverb

    (-)
  • At an earlier time.
  • * , chapter=12
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly, gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place.}}
  • In advance.
  • At the front end.
  • * 1896 , (Hilaire Belloc), The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts , :
    • When people call this beast to mind,
    They marvel more and more
    At such a (little) tail behind,
    So LARGE a trunk before .

    Synonyms

    * (at an earlier time) previously * (in advance) ahead * (at the front end) in front

    Antonyms

    * (at an earlier time) after * (at the front end) behind

    Derived terms

    * beforehand * beforetime

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • in advance of the time when
  • (informal) rather or sooner than

    • Synonyms

    * (rather than) lest

    References

    * Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

    Statistics

    * English locatives English sequence adverbs 1000 English basic words

    short

    English

    (wikipedia short)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
  • (of a person) Of comparatively little height.
  • Having little duration; opposite of long.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
    • , author=Anna Lena Phillips , title=Sneaky Silk Moths , volume=100, issue=2, page=172 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.}}
    Our meeting was a short six minutes today. Every day for the past month it's been at least twenty minutes long.
  • Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).
    • “Phone” is short''' for “telephone” and "asap" '''short for "as soon as possible".
  • (cricket, Of a ball) that bounced relatively far from the batsman.
  • (cricket, Of a fielder or fielding position) that is relatively close to the batsman.
  • Brittle (of pastry, and some metals); see also shortening, shortcrust.
  • Abrupt; brief; pointed; petulant.
    • He gave a short answer to the question.
  • Limited in quantity; inadequate; insufficient; scanty.
    • a short supply of provisions
  • Insufficiently provided; inadequately supplied; scantily furnished; lacking.
    • to be short of money
    The cashier came up short ten dollars on his morning shift.
  • Deficient; less; not coming up to a measure or standard.
    • an account which is short of the truth
  • * Landor
    • Hardly anything short of an invasion could rouse them again to war.
  • (obsolete) Not distant in time; near at hand.
  • * Spenser
    • Marinell was sore offended / That his departure thence should be so short .
  • * Clarendon
    • He commanded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready by a short day.
  • In a financial investment position that is structured to be profitable if the price of the underlying security declines in the future.
    • I'm short General Motors because I think their sales are plunging.

    Usage notes

    * (having a small distance between ends or edges) (term) is often used in the positive vertical dimension and used as is (shallow) in the negative vertical dimension; in the horizontal dimension (narrow) is more commonly used.

    Synonyms

    * (having a small distance between ends or edges) low, narrow, slim, shallow * little, pint-sized, petite, titchy (slang) * (having little duration) brief, concise * an abbreviation of, a short form of

    Antonyms

    * (having a small distance between ends or edges) tall, high, wide, broad, deep, long * tall * (having little duration) long * long

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Abruptly, curtly, briefly.
    • They had to stop short to avoid hitting the dog in the street.
    He cut me short repeatedly in the meeting.
    The boss got a message and cut the meeting short .
  • Unawares.
    • The recent developments at work caught them short .
  • Without achieving a goal or requirement.
    • His speech fell short of what was expected.
  • (cricket, of the manner of bounce of a cricket ball) Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.
  • (finance) With a negative ownership position.
    • We went short most finance companies in July.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A short circuit.
  • A short film.
  • * 2012 July 12, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift [http://www.avclub.com/articles/ice-age-continental-drift,82358/]
    • Preceded by a Simpsons short shot in 3-D—perhaps the only thing more superfluous than a fourth Ice Age movie—Ice Age: Continental Drift finds a retinue of vaguely contemporaneous animals coping with life in the post-Pangaea age.
  • (Used to indicate a short-length version of a size)
    • 38 short suits fit me right off the rack.
    Do you have that size in a short .
  • (baseball) A shortstop.
    • Jones smashes a grounder between third and short .
  • (finance) A short seller.
    • The market decline was terrible, but the shorts were buying champagne.
  • (finance) A short sale.
    • He closed out his short at a modest loss after three months.
  • A summary account.
  • * Shakespeare
    • The short and the long is, our play is preferred.
  • (phonetics) A short sound, syllable, or vowel.
  • * H. Sweet
    • If we compare the nearest conventional shorts and longs in English, as in "bit" and "beat", "not" and "naught", we find that the short vowels are generally wide, the long narrow, besides being generally diphthongic as well.
  • (label) An shorter than normal integers; usually two bytes long.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cause a in (something).
  • Of an electrical circuit, to .
  • To shortchange.
  • To provide with a smaller than agreed or labeled amount.
    • This is the third time I've caught them shorting us.
  • (business) 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.

    • Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Deficient in.
    • We are short a few men on the second shift.
    He's short common sense.
  • (finance) Having a negative position in.
    • I don't want to be short the market going into the weekend.

    Synonyms

    * (deficient in) lacking, short on

    Derived terms

    * cold short * for short * hot short * in short * short-arse * short back and sides * short of * short-change, shortchange * shorten * short end of the stick * shortie * shortfall * shorthand * short strokes * shorty * the long and short

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * * * English transitive verbs 1000 English basic words ----