Short

One who has sold a contract to establish a market position and who has not yet closed out this position through an offsetting purchase; the opposite of a long position. Related: Long. The New York Times Financial Glossary

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▪ I. short short ¹ [ʆɔːt ǁ ʆɔːrt] adjective

1. not having as much of something as there should be or as much as you need:

• Have you all paid me? I'm still about £9 short.

short of

• The insurance fund was running short of cash.

2. be short of stock/​be short on stock FINANCE if someone is short of stock, they have sold shares that they do not yet own, believing that the price will fall before the shares have to be delivered

  [m0] ▪ II. short short ² adverb FINANCE

1. if someone sells bonds, shares, currencies etc short, they sell bonds etc that they do not yet own believing that the price will fall so that they can be bought more cheaply before they have to be delivered:

• traders who sell short

2. go short (on something) to sell bonds, shares, currencies etc that you do not own, believing that their value will fall and that you will be able to buy them more cheaply before they have to be delivered:

• These money managers go short, making bets that certain stocks will decline.

  [m0] ▪ III. short short ³ verb [intransitive, transitive] FINANCE

to sell shares that you do not yet own, believing that the price will fall so that the shares can be bought more cheaply before they have to be delivered:

• Many were actually shorting the market, betting prices would fall.

— shorting noun [uncountable] :

• For those with the nerves for it, shorting can be a grand way to make money.

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   Investors are 'short' when they sell borrowed assets in the hope that they can buy them back when prices have fallen. A short position is the opposite of a long position, when investors buy assets in the hope that they can sell them when prices have risen.

   ► See also Long.

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Ⅰ.

short UK US /ʃɔːt/ adjective

► [not before a noun] not having enough of something that you need: be short of sth »

We are very short of staff and if we face a major incident we'll be stretched.

be short on sth »

The Budget was short on announcements about personal taxes.

leave sth short of sth »

The rocky economy has left the state so short of money that it must cut spending.

► [not before a noun] not available or not large enough in number or amount: »

The most common ways of ending an interview are saying that time is short.

»

Those from well-off homes tend to be spendthrift even when money is short.

► less than a particular amount: short of sth »

The charity raised just short of €7m last year.

► STOCK MARKET used to describe the selling of shares that you have borrowed, hoping that their price will fall before you buy them back and return them to their owner, making a profit: »

In a short sale, an investor can sell stock he doesn't own, hoping to buy the shares at a cheaper price later on.

► used to describe a shorter form of a name or word: short for sth »

Ami is short for artificial machine intelligence.

for short »

Keep an eye on Canada's Northern Telecom, Nortel for short.

● at short notice — Cf. at short notice

● in short supply — Cf. in short supply

Ⅱ.

short UK US /ʃɔːt/ adverb

► STOCK MARKET if you sell shares short, you sell shares that you have borrowed, hoping that their price will fall before you buy them back and return them to their owner, making a profit: »

The group's conservative growth portfolio isn't allowed to sell stocks short.

»

A popular hedge fund move is to go short.

go short on sth »

Speculators are going short on the Hong Kong dollar.

● run short — Cf. run short of sth

Ⅲ.

short UK US /ʃɔːt/ verb [T]

► STOCK MARKET to sell shares that you have borrowed, hoping that their price will fall before you buy them back and return them to their owner, so that you make a profit: »

As many as 27% of the company's shares have been shorted.