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. Hence, originally short vowels can be
lengthened and yet kept quite distinct from the original longs.
H. Sweet.
In short, in few words; in brief; briefly. -- The long and the short,
the whole; a brief summing up. -- The shorts (Stock Exchange), those
who are unsupplied with stocks which they contracted to deliver.
Short (?), adv. In a short manner; briefly; limitedly; abruptly;
quickly; as, to stop short in one's course; to turn short.
He was taken up very short, and adjudged corrigible for such
presumptuous language.
Howell.
To sell short (Stock Exchange), to sell, for future delivery, what the
party selling does not own, but hopes to buy at a lower rate.