■ short

1) to sell somebody short，是“小看”的意思。

• To call him a star of stage, screen, and television is to sell him short, since he is also the author of five books for children and one for adults.称他为舞台、银幕和电视明星，是小看了他，因为他还是五本儿童书籍和一本成人书籍的作者呢。
• —Who'd employ me at my age?—Don't sell yourself short! You're intelligent and you've got loads of experience.—我这一把年纪了，还有谁会雇用我呀？—别把自己看小了。你又聪明，又经验丰富。

2) come up short，可以是瞬时或延续的，主语是人时，意思是“遭遇挫折”。

• The plaintiff came up short in the ruling.原告败诉了。
• Giants came up short.巨人队打输了。
• Don't come up short in retirement.别到退休时陷入困境。

主语是事物时，意思是“不见效”，“没用”。

• Most of these drugs come up short.这些药品大多是没效的。

3) fall short，参见 short of 条。

4) short on 是“缺乏某物”的意思。

• *It's not easy welcoming a new arrival (=a new baby). For a while, you'll be feeling a little short on sleep. And if you have other kids, they'll be feeling a little short on attention.欢迎一个新生儿的来临，不是一件容易的事。你会有一阵感到睡眠不足。如果你另外还有孩子，他们又会感到对他们的关怀有点不够。