to come short
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Not to be sufficient. "To come short of" means to miss or fail of attaining.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to come short” mean?
Not to be sufficient. "To come short of" means to miss or fail of attaining.
Is “to come short” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.