pull up short

English

Verb

pull up short (third-person singular simple present pulls up short, present participle pulling up short, simple past and past participle pulled up short)

1. (intransitive, psychology) To be overwhelmed or dumbfounded by events.
   • 2015, Mary Jo Hinsdale, Mutuality, Mystery, and Mentorship in Higher Education, page 99:

     Deborah Kerdeman asks us to prepare for the occasions on which we will be “pulled up short.”