caught short

idiom

: not having enough of something

Make sure you stock up on supplies before you set out on your trip. Don't be caught short!

British, informal : having a sudden urge to use the toilet

Examples of caught short in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Many developers, spurred by the pandemic to invest money in new self-storage facilities, have been caught short by this drop in demand. —

Martha C. White, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2024 Or reforming military procurement so we’re not caught short of ammo again? —

John Seiler, Orange County Register, 23 Apr. 2024 Combining derivative creation in a new asset class with high leverage multiples can create a situation that can leave investors caught short in times of market uncertainty or downturns. —

Sean Stein Smith, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024 New deals from the country had already been drying up as traders didn’t want to risk getting caught short of the agreement’s deadline, said Matt Ammermann, commodity risk manager at StoneX. —

Megan Durisin, Áine Quinn and Daryna Krasnolutska, Anchorage Daily News, 31 Oct. 2022 See all Example Sentences for caught short

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'caught short.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.