to make short work of it
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To dispose of it quickly, to deal summarily with it.
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 make short work of it” mean?
To dispose of it quickly, to deal summarily with it.
Is “to make short work of it” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.