How to Use short-circuit in a Sentence

short-circuit

1 of 2 verb
  • Which would short-circuit his buyout.
    — Jordan Sigler, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Portelli brought up two more problems that may have short-circuited the boom.
    — Daniel Engber, The Atlantic, 20 Dec. 2025
  • Allowing agencies to step in when the law falls silent short-circuits that process.
    — The Editors, National Review, 18 Jan. 2024
  • But the surge soon short-circuited when the Rockies tied the game in the top of the eighth.
    — Alex Speier, BostonGlobe.com, 13 June 2023
  • But there are ways to beat the locusts—ways to short-circuit or break out of the experiment.
    — James Parker, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2025
  • You short-circuit them if you’re baffled by the suggestion that baldness is a source of shame.
    — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 18 Feb. 2023
  • As soon as the water rushed in, my brain short-circuited—there were too many sensations at once.
    — Hannah Singleton, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 May 2026
  • Dendrites can short-circuit the battery cell and cause explosive fires.
    — Nidhi Sharma, NBC News, 6 Nov. 2023
  • It is being weaponized to short-circuit due process and to meet quiet enforcement quotas.
    — Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 June 2025
  • But that can short-circuit more interesting thoughts that may be more valuable for ourselves and the world.
    — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 10 June 2025
  • But that zeal short-circuited the team’s only real chance against Blake Snell.
    — Andy McCullough, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2025
  • During heavy rain, flush-fit door handles have short-circuited, trapping people in their cars.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Scammers rely on fear and urgency to short-circuit good judgment.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 10 Feb. 2026
  • Imagining more than a month without being able to return causes your thought process to short-circuit.
    — Óscar Martínez & Carlos Martínez, The Dial, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Has advertising now become so savvy as to short-circuit avant-gardist critique in advance?
    — Michael Cowan, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
  • The same technologies that expand the creative process also threaten to short-circuit it.
    — Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026
  • These include short-circuit current, open-circuit voltage, and fill factor.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 24 June 2026
  • Worse still, if too many lithium ions build up, the battery can short-circuit and, potentially, start a battery fire.
    — Rebecca Heilweil, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2023
  • The Wolves short-circuited the Nuggets’ repeat attempt.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 18 Apr. 2026
  • To defeat him, Scott goes sub-atomic and short-circuits Darren’s shrinking suit.
    — Adam B. Vary, Variety, 15 Feb. 2023
  • Trying to short-circuit that decision in the courts, however, is likely to make things worse rather than better.
    — Nr Editors, National Review, 22 Dec. 2023
  • For, as everyone knows, when reception is bad, the short-circuit is sometimes in the receiver.
    — Kathleen Watt, Allure, 6 Dec. 2023
  • But beneath the surface, they short-circuit emotional repair.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
  • The researchers have struggled with dendrites – spiky metallic formations that can cause a battery to short-circuit.
    — Cameron Pugh, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Mar. 2024
  • The issues are caused when water penetrates a smart lock and corrodes the metal or causes the device to short-circuit.
    — Abigail Singrey, Architectural Digest, 7 Oct. 2024
  • This causes the Chromebooks to short-circuit, leaving them sparking, smoking or catching on fire.
    — Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 May 2025
  • However, keep in mind that presenting a scientist with an equation written in feet and pounds may short-circuit their brains.
    — Sarah Wells, Popular Mechanics, 10 May 2023
  • They’re designed with longevity in mind, too, and feature over-charge protection and short-circuit protection.
    — Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 25 Apr. 2025
  • At some point in the middle of an argument—or any other high-stress situation—something short-circuits.
    — Angela Haupt, Time, 10 Apr. 2026
  • The homeowner plugged it into an outlet in their kitchen, but the battery short-circuited and exploded.
    — Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 31 Jan. 2024

short circuit

2 of 2 noun
  • The fire was caused by a short circuit.
  • If the harness short circuits, a fire can start.
    — Greta Cross, USA Today, 25 Feb. 2026
  • Police have said a short circuit may have triggered the fire.
    — Arkansas Online, 22 Jan. 2026
  • There are times when the space heater could overpower the cord and cause it to short circuit.
    — Joe Mario Pedersen, orlandosentinel.com, 2 Dec. 2020
  • Authorities at one point said the fire was caused by a short circuit.
    — Fox News, 14 July 2021
  • There was no short circuit on an electrical device in his room.
    — Richard Obert, The Arizona Republic, 10 June 2022
  • The short circuit from the balloon can also cause power lines to fall to the ground.
    — Bridget Fogarty, Journal Sentinel, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Lithium dendrite can cause a short circuit that sparks a fire, Chen wrote.
    — Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press, 1 Mar. 2024
  • This can be caused by an overloaded circuit, short circuit or ground fault.
    — azcentral, 1 Aug. 2019
  • Sometimes, when people do nice things to me, I short circuit.
    — Peggy Truong, Cosmopolitan, 19 Mar. 2018
  • This results in dendrites, which may lead to battery short circuits.
    — New Atlas, 2 Mar. 2025
  • Some of the work seemed haphazard, and machine bundling of the wires left them open to short circuits.
    — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 16 July 2019
  • Watch out for overheating, short circuits, and faulty motors.
    — Shivani Vyas, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Mar. 2025
  • This defect can result in a higher risk of crash if the short circuit happens while the car is in use.
    — Lauren M. Johnson, CNN, 24 Oct. 2019
  • As a result, water may leak into the cameras and short circuit.
    — Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 25 June 2024
  • And admitting privileges laws are just a short circuit to get there.
    — Kate Smith, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2019
  • Officials said the fire was caused by a short circuit that came amid heavy rain in Moscow.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 12 Dec. 2022
  • This reduces the chance of a short circuit that can spark into a significant house fire.
    — Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 18 Apr. 2025
  • Salt may also connect to cravings via a short circuit in the gut microbiome.
    — Christopher Damman, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2024
  • Jay saw his first fatal fire in high school, when a short circuit lit up an old man's house early one morning on the next block over.
    — Sean Flynn, Esquire, 9 Mar. 2017
  • This reduces the chance of a short circuit that can spark into a significant house fire.
    — Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 27 Apr. 2026
  • The statement says the exact cause of the short circuit is unknown and that there have been no crashes or injuries.
    — Tom Krisher, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2023
  • The blaze, started by a short circuit in a piece of charging equipment, had torn through the tent in which everything was housed.
    — Jonathan Hawkins, CNN, 8 July 2019
  • Most designs aren't a fire or electrical hazard, as the batteries shut off in the event of a short circuit.
    — Theresa Holland, Travel + Leisure, 1 Mar. 2023
  • The fire risk comes from a short circuit in the battery junction box, which can cause an engine fire when the vehicle is parked or in drive.
    — Olivia Evans, Louisville Courier Journal, 2 Oct. 2025
  • These dendrites can grow over time and penetrate the electrolyte, leading to short circuits and safety risks.
    — Matthew Dawson, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
  • The damage could cause a short circuit that, because there’s no fuse in the circuitry, could lead to overheating and a fire.
    — Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 2 June 2023
  • Doing so, is known as creating a short circuit and could cause the wires and the batteries to get extremely hot.
    — Rachelle Doorley, Parents, 16 Aug. 2023
  • And that was a world in which the tubes often blew, and bugs in the system were literal ones, namely insects that caused short circuits.
    — The Economist, 22 Feb. 2018
  • Moisture can rust internal wiring and cause devices to short circuit, ruining them.
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'short-circuit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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