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cut short

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cut short

Abbreviate, stop abruptly, as in The thunderstorm cut short our picnic, or She cut her short, saying she'd already heard the story of their breakup. Shakespeare used this term to mean "put a sudden end to someone's life": "Rather than bloody war shall cut them short" ( 2 Henry VI, 4:4), a less common usage today. The broader usage dates from the mid-1600s.

See also: cut, short

cut short

To stop before the end; abbreviate.

See also: cut, short