be caught (或英

be put at a disadvantage

被置于不利地位

the troubled company has been caught short by price competition in a recession-stricken market.

這家麻煩重重的公司由于受到價(jià)格競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，在蕭條的市場(chǎng)中處于不利地位。

a brick short of a load, two sandwiches short of a

(informal)(of a person) stupid; crazy

(非正式)（指人）愚蠢的

she's two bricks short of a load.

她太笨了。

bring (或 pull) someone up short

make someone check or pause abruptly

使突然受阻（或中斷）

he was entering the office when he was brought up short by the sight of John.

他正要進(jìn)辦公室，突然見到約翰而止步。

come short

fail to reach a goal or standard

未達(dá)到目標(biāo)（或標(biāo)準(zhǔn)）

we're so close to getting the job done, but we keep &B{coming up} short.

我們就快把工作做完了，但是還是未能達(dá)到目標(biāo)。

get (或 have) someone by the short and curlies (或 s

(informal)have complete control of a person

(非正式)完全控制某人

go short

not have enough of something, especially food

（尤指食物）短缺

you won't go short when I die.

我死后你不會(huì)缺衣少食的。

in short order

(chiefly US)immediately; rapidly

(主美)立刻；迅速

after the killing the camp had been shut down in short order.

在發(fā)生殘殺之后，營(yíng)地馬上關(guān)閉了。

in the short run

in the near future

在不遠(yuǎn)的將來

in short supply

scarce

缺少

in the short term

in the near future

在不遠(yuǎn)的將來

little (或nothing) short of

almost (or equal to); little (or nothing) less than

差不多；等于；一點(diǎn)也不少于

he regarded the cost of living as little short of scandalous.

在他看來，生活費(fèi)用幾乎是駭人聽聞的。

make short work of

accomplish, consume, or destroy quickly

快速實(shí)現(xiàn)（或消費(fèi)、毀壞）

we made short work of our huge portions.

我們很快吃掉份量很大的食物。

short and sweet

brief and pleasant

短暫愉快的

his comments were short and sweet.

他的評(píng)論很短、很愉悅。

short of breath

panting; short-winded

呼吸短促的；氣喘的

未能消除全民警惕，我們什么事都做不了.