E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Cut Short
is to shorten. “Cut short all intermission” (Macbeth, iv. 3). To cut it short means to bring to an end what you are doing or saying.
1
His life was cut short. He died prematurely. The allusion is to At’ropos, one of the three Parcæ, cutting the thread of life spun by her sister Clo’tho.
