shortchange

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

short + change

Pronunciation

Verb

shortchange (third-person singular simple present shortchanges, present participle shortchanging, simple past and past participle shortchanged)

  1. To defraud someone by giving them less change than they should be given after a transaction.
    I got shortchanged! …I gave him $10 for a $5 item and he only gave me $1 back.
  2. (by extension) To deprive someone of something for which they paid.
    The elective class was easy, but in the end I was shortchanging myself.
  3. To make disadvantaged by design.
    Being proud of mistreating shortchanged "enemies" is a likely sign of class consciousness, as well as thinking or speaking ill of them.

Translations

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