noun
- a method of rapid handwriting using simple strokes, abbreviations, or symbols that designate letters, words, or phrases (distinguished from longhand).
- a simplified or makeshift manner or system of communication: We spoke in a kind of pidgin shorthand to overcome the language barrier.
adjective
- using or able to use shorthand.
- written in shorthand.
- of or relating to shorthand.
noun
-
- a system of rapid handwriting employing simple strokes and other symbols to represent words or phrases
- (as modifier)a shorthand typist
method of rapid writing, 1636, from short (adj.) in the “rapid” sense + hand (n.) “handwriting.” Short-handed “having too few ‘hands’ ” is from 1794; the ice hockey sense is recorded from 1939.