Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

shorts

/ʃɔː(ɹ)ts/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.07 in modern English

Syllables: shorts
IPA: /ʃɔː(ɹ)ts/

9

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

plural of short

noun

A garment worn over the pelvic area ending above the knees, not covering the entire length of the leg, designed for warm weather or for sports.

noun

Dated

noun

Remnants, clippings, trimmings of production processes.

Uncountable

noun

The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran; pollard.

noun

Short, inferior hemp.

verb

third-person singular simple present indicative of short

Example Sentences

"Jessica hated covering her legs, so she usually wore shorts."
"In 1925, boxer shorts were unleashed on the world: loose-fitting underwear for men, featuring an elastic waistband inspired by the shorts worn by boxers. It was underwear for the inner pugilist."
"After a scare like that, you might need to change your shorts."
"And always, when the food arrives, send something back. It's considered very sophisticated. But make sure you use colorful language. Tell him, "Waiter, this veal tastes like the inside front panel of Ferdinand Magellan's shorts. And I'm referring to the first voyage.""
"[…]the first remove above bran is shorts ; the next above that is sharps"

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Germanic *skertaną Proto-Germanic *skurtaz Proto-West Germanic *skurt Old English sċort Middle English schort English short Old English -as Middle English -es English -s English shorts From short + -s.

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /ʃɔː(ɹ)ts/

Usage

Derived Forms

boardshorts boyshorts jort jorts playshorts shants skort skorts swimshorts undershorts upshorts

Phrases

basketball shorts Bermuda shorts bib shorts bicycle shorts bicycling shorts biking shorts board shorts booty shorts

Frequently Paired Words

short pants undershorts 🩳

Synonyms

drawers underdrawers boxers boxershorts short pants trunks

Rhymes With

sports reports courts supports sorts ports imports resorts quartz schwartz transports forts

Questions

How do you pronounce shorts?: The recorded pronunciation is /ʃɔː(ɹ)ts/.
What does shorts mean?: plural of short
Where does shorts come from?: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Germanic *skertaną Proto-Germanic *skurtaz Proto-West Germanic *skurt Old English sċort Middle English schort English short Old English -as Middle English -es English -s English shorts From short + -s.

How to pronounce shorts

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Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ʃɔː(ɹ)ts/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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