go short

English

Verb

go short (third-person singular simple present goes short, present participle going short, simple past went short, past participle gone short)

1. (UK, intransitive) To have an insufficient amount. [with of ‘something’]

   My parents were very poor, and we often went short of food.

2. (finance) To sell a financial product (such as a share) now, even though one does not presently own it, in the hope of buying it more cheaply for delivery at a later date, so as to profit from a fall in price below the price at which one sold it; cf. go long.

Further reading

• “go short of something” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “go short of something” (US) / “go short of something” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “go short”, in Collins English Dictionary.