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short list

short list

38 3.7
A list of chosen people from a larger group for final selection
  • noun
  • /ʃɔrt lɪst/
translation icon : preselección
  • After the initial interviews, we created a short list of the best applicants for the job.
  • short list of candidates
  • a very short list
  • only a short list

Is there a short list of ways that we can cope with stress better?

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Examples

  • At one point he tells them that he is on the short list to become the next head of the SEC.

  • We arrived at a short list of five theoretical problems in early November 1992.

    Academic text (1993)
  • But maybe it would be great to hear your short list of the most important.

  • You need to have a very short list every week of what actually matters to you.

  • You want the short list or the long list?

  • So is Buddy on your short list?

  • Coffee was also on her short list of things to buy.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Indeed Instant Match helps you make a short list of great candidates fast.

  • Judge Trent is on the short list for Solicitor General.

  • I've got a short list of psychologists.

Synonyms

selection
vsshort list
171 1.9

A group of things you can choose from, like clothes

is a smaller chosen list narrowed from a longer list for final choice
shortlist
vsshort list
6 3.6

A list of chosen candidates for a job or prize

has identical meaning but is written as two separate words

How Complete

catalog
  • US
211 2.5
elenchi
9.9
list
1.0
short list
38 3.7
note
1.0

Surface Forms

short list singular
short lists plural
short-lists plural
short-list singular

Morphology

short + list

The meaning 'a reduced/selected list of candidates' is directly compositional from 'short' (understood here as reduced or brief) + 'list' (a sequence of names/items). This adjective+noun pattern is a common, cross-linguistic way to signal a shortened or limited version of a list, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Short list comes from the simple idea of making a long list 'short' by keeping only a few chosen people. Imagine cutting a long list of names down to a small list of people still being considered, so short list means a small group of selected candidates.