fall short

verb

fail to meet (expectations or standards) (Freq. 1)

• Syn: ↑come short

• Hypernyms: ↑disappoint, ↑let down

• Verb Frames:

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Something ——s

-

Somebody ——s

-

Something is ——ing PP

-

Somebody ——s PP

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phrasal

1. : to become or be deficient

the expedition's supplies began to fall short

2. : to fail to attain, reach, arrive at, or perform something

the shot fell short

our efforts have fallen short

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fall short

1. To turn out to be short or insufficient

2. To become used up

3. To fail to attain or reach what is aimed at (with of)

• • •

Main Entry: ↑fall

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fall short see under ↑fall¹

• • •

Main Entry: ↑short

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fall short phrase

to not reach a particular level or to fail to achieve something that you were trying to do

fall short of:

The party is likely to fall short of a parliamentary majority.

Thesaurus: to make a mistake, or to do something badly_synonym to not make progress_synonym

Main entry: fall

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fall short (of)

(of a missile) fail to reach its target

■ figurative be deficient or inadequate; fail to reach a required goal

the total vote fell short of the required two-thirds majority

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fall short

1 : to fail to be as good or successful as expected or hoped for

In comparison to her previous novel, this one falls short. [=this one is not as good]

— often + of

Her current book falls short of her previous novel.

The cruise fell short of our expectations. [=the cruise was not as good as we expected it to be]

2 : to fail to reach a goal

Their efforts fell short.

— often + of

Their efforts fell (far) short of (achieving) their goal.

• • •

Main Entry: ↑fall

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fall short — see ↑fall, 1

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Main Entry: ↑short