stop short of (doing something)

1. to decide not to do something.

I stopped short of telling him what I really felt about him.

2. to almost do something, or partly do something without completing it.

The punishments are quite severe but they stop short of losing your job.

Usage notes: sometimes used in the forms stop well short of or stop just short of:

The government is stopping just short of threatening to go to war.

• the shoe is on the other foot
• the show must go on.
• the silent majority
• the silly season
• the silver screen
• the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question
• the sky's the limit
• the sky's the limit.
• the slings and arrows
• the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
• the small hours
• the small print
• the smart money
• the smoke
• the socks off
• the socks off someone
• the soft sell
• the something of dreams
• the something of your dreams
• the spectre at the feast
• the spirit moves
• the spirit moves you
• the staff of life
• the stage is set for
• the stage is set for something