short out
Electrical system fails
Short out describes what happens when electricity takes an unintended path, bypassing normal resistance—a short circuit.
A wire touches another wire, a component fails, and current flows where it shouldn't: The faulty wiring shorted out the whole system.
Figuratively, to short out is to malfunction or fail suddenly: My brain just shorted out during the exam.
- overloadBurden beyond capacity
- ground faultUnintended current path
- power surgeAbrupt voltage increase
- foreshortenCompress in perspective
- system crashComplete operational breakdown
goes haywire · on the fritz · burnout · cognitive dissonance · electrical discharge · voltage drop · power outage · spark · electrical fire · smoke damage · circuit breaker · fried · safety protocols · shorted · fuse · tripped breaker · shorting · blow a fuse