From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcome up shortcome up shortto fail to win or achieve something We’ve been to the state tournament four times, but we’ve come up short every time. → short
Examples from the Corpus
come up short• He struck the ball tentatively, and it came up short.• I went home, wanting to do something very special, but came up short.• Judged by their own standards, they came up short.• This analysis often reveals why some groups regularly succeed and others regularly come up short.• We're so close to getting the job done, but we keep coming up short.• Riley keeps coming up short, but insists on coming right back to pound the same hammer with the same nail.• We've been to the state tournament four times, but we've come up short every time.• Kansas played well for 38 minutes but came up short in the end.• If we keep coming up short, tax the Patagonians. 