one short
Not quite enough
One short describes being deficient by exactly one unit of what's needed or expected.
A baker who's one short doesn't have enough rolls to fill an order.
The phrase often appears with "of": We're one short of a full team.
To be one short of a dozen is to have eleven.
The construction extends idiomatically: one brick short of a load and similar phrases suggest someone lacks intelligence or sanity.
- byeParting utterance
- caughtSeized or grabbed
- briefShort in duration
- singleOne in number
- stumpedUnable to solve
dismissal · scoring · failing · insufficient · century · incomplete · ninety-nine · six pack · deficit · missing · lacking · unfulfilled · partial · run · almost · close · approximate · penalty
one shortone too many
Slight, problematic surplus
plus one · in excess · one up · overstocked · surplus
one, short, ones, shorten, shortened, shortening, shorter, shortest, shortly