Underwear vs. Shorts — What's the Difference?

Clothing worn under other clothes, typically next to the skin.

Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they are a shortened version of trousers, which cover the entire leg, but not the foot.

See underpants.

Having little length; not long.

See underclothes.

Having little height; not tall.

Clothes worn next to the skin, underneath outer clothing.

Extending or traveling not far or not far enough

(colloquial) Underpants (boxers, briefs, panties, etc) and often bras.

Lasting a brief time

That which is worn under the outside clothing; underclothes.

Appearing to pass quickly

Undergarment worn next to the skin and under the outer garments

Not lengthy; succinct

Rudely brief; abrupt

Easily provoked; irascible

Inadequate; insufficient

Lacking in length or amount

Lacking in breadth or scope

Deficient in retentiveness

Holding a trading position that is inversely related to the price of a security or index

Of or relating to a short sale

Containing a large amount of shortening; flaky

Not ductile; brittle

(Linguistics) Of, relating to, or being a speech sound of relatively brief duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mălus, "evil," as compared with the same or a similar sound of relatively long duration, as the first vowel sound in the Latin word mālus, "apple tree."

(Grammar) Of, relating to, or being a vowel sound in English, such as the vowel sound (ă) in pat or () in put, that is descended from a vowel of brief duration.

Being of relatively brief duration. Used of a syllable in quantitative prosody.

(Slang) Close to the end of a tour of military duty.

Abruptly; quickly

In a rude or curt manner.

At a point before a given boundary, limit, or goal

At a disadvantage

By means of a short sale

(Linguistics) A short syllable, vowel, or consonant.

A brief film; a short subject.

A size of clothing less long than the average for that size.

Shorts Short pants extending to the knee or above.

Shorts Undershorts.

A short sale.

One that sells short.

Shorts A byproduct of wheat processing that consists of germ, bran, and coarse meal or flour.

Shorts Clippings or trimmings that remain as byproducts in various manufacturing processes, often used to make an inferior variety of the product.

A short circuit.

A malfunction caused by a short circuit.

(Baseball) A shortstop.

To cause a short circuit in.

(Informal) To give (one) less than one is entitled to; shortchange.

To short-sell (a security or index).

To short-circuit.

Plural of short#Noun

Pants or trousers worn for sports or in warmer weather that do not go lower than the knees.

(dated) underpants.

(uncountable) Remnants, clippings, trimmings of production processes.

The part of milled grain sifted out which is next finer than the bran; pollard.

Short, inferior hemp.

Trousers that end at or above the knee

(usually in the plural) underpants worn by men