shorter

Everyday

1. Shorter means having less length than something else. tree →
2. Shorter means less tall: «Tom is shorter than Max». tree →
3. Shorter means lasting less time: «a shorter way home». tree →

In the lessons

less length than the thing before: «D shorter» is − D from the thing before; «How much shorter» asks for a difference; phrases: «shorter than», «the shortest», «a shorter way», «cut shorter»

Examples

• The blue ribbon is 2 metres shorter. tree →
• Tom is 10 centimetres shorter than Max. tree →
• How much shorter is the pencil than the ruler? tree →
• Days get shorter in winter. tree →
• Let's take the shorter path through the park. tree →
• My little brother is shorter than me. tree →
• The shortest days of the year come in winter. tree →
• The new film is shorter than the old one. tree →
• "We must keep to the left; it is much shorter." tree →

Note

«D shorter» is − D from the thing before. «How much shorter» asks for a difference: subtract. Trap: if the shorter length is given, the longer one is it + D. Opposite: longer, taller.

In Jewish tradition

In Ezekiel's vision of the Temple, the upper rooms were shorter because the galleries took up space.

Interpretation. Tradition treats Ezekiel's detailed Temple plan as a hope for a future rebuilt Temple.

Examples

• Now the upper chambers were shorter; for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middlemost, in the building. (Prophets EZK.42.5, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

«D shorter» is − D from the thing before. «How much shorter» asks for a difference: subtract. Trap: if the shorter length is given, the longer one is it + D. Opposite: longer, taller.