as in cheated
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
charged that the used-car dealer had been shorting customers for years
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Recent Examples of shorted
Those who shorted the provocation phase got crushed by the pivot.
—
Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
While several private credit firms, like Apollo, spotted the potential problems at First Brands and even shorted the credit before the company filed for bankruptcy, others failed to notice the red flags.
—Robert Frank, CNBC, 2 Dec. 2025
The initial claim from Nebraska was scant on details about how much water is being shorted to Nebraska users.
—The Denver Post Editorial Board, Denver Post, 28 Oct. 2025
Electric telegraph lines across Europe and the Americas shorted out.
—Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
Due to its sharp increase of votes for Tarrant County College, all the other taxing entities were shorted the number of votes they are entitled to, Barnes said.
—Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Oct. 2025
The water shorted his air conditioning unit.
—Mario Ariza, ProPublica, 15 Sep. 2025
Paramount stock is more heavily shorted by far than shares in its media peers, which can increase volatility.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2025
Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
While several private credit firms, like Apollo, spotted the potential problems at First Brands and even shorted the credit before the company filed for bankruptcy, others failed to notice the red flags.
—Robert Frank, CNBC, 2 Dec. 2025
The initial claim from Nebraska was scant on details about how much water is being shorted to Nebraska users.
—The Denver Post Editorial Board, Denver Post, 28 Oct. 2025
Electric telegraph lines across Europe and the Americas shorted out.
—Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
Due to its sharp increase of votes for Tarrant County College, all the other taxing entities were shorted the number of votes they are entitled to, Barnes said.
—Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Oct. 2025
The water shorted his air conditioning unit.
—Mario Ariza, ProPublica, 15 Sep. 2025
Paramount stock is more heavily shorted by far than shares in its media peers, which can increase volatility.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shorted
Verb
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McMann hunted, but never cheated, for offence.—
Joshua Kloke,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
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Experts say such scam operations in Cambodia and elsewhere have cheated people around the world out of billions of dollars and tricked people from many countries to work in them under slave-like conditions.—
Sakchai Lalit,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Over at Azur on Luminara, the menu reinvents itself every two days to mirror the port of call, like someone plucked the best taverna dishes off the coast and casually plated them in front of you.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
11 Feb. 2026
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This is ideal for decades of sliding across the ice, because bigger mineral grains are more likely to get plucked out by the ice, leaving holes in the surface that could cause unpredictable behavior.—
Andrea Thompson,
Scientific American,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In an ecosystem squeezed by the brutal economics of streaming and the continuing struggles of the theatrical model, far too many worthy films go unsold and unseen.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Tens of billions of dollars in corporate loans are likely to default over the next year as companies, especially software and data services firms owned by private equity, get squeezed by the AI threat, Mish said in a Wednesday research note.—
Hugh Son,
CNBC,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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His attacker, the man in black, was hustled off the stage.—
Anderson Cooper,
CBS News,
9 Feb. 2026
-
As the lights came up, Taylor had already been hustled out, as had Arnaud.—
Eve Batey,
Vanity Fair,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The loss certainly stung for Maye.—
Greg Dudek,
Hartford Courant,
9 Feb. 2026
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One pocket of tech that has faced a lot of pressure have been software firms, with the shares of companies like SAP, Salesforce, and ServiceNow all stung the last six months, as Reuters reports, because of rising fears that AI could disrupt their business models.—
John Kell,
Fortune,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Was Tony Kiritsis really screwed out of a legitimate business deal?—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Basically, our government helped the rich get richer while working families got screwed.—
Ana María Archila,
New York Daily News,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The crucial employment snapshot is slightly delayed because of the brief government shutdown and will show whether the trajectory improved for the US labor market, which has been stuck in a low-hire and low-fire lull.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
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Meanwhile, a high-speed rail proposal between Dallas and Fort Worth is stuck in limbo, stemming from objections to where a route would connect in Dallas, per KERA.—
Sasha Richie,
Dallas Morning News,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shorted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shorted. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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