make short work of
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make short work of (third-person singular simple present makes short work of, present participle making short work of, simple past and past participle made short work of)
- (transitive, idiomatic) To do (a task) quicker or easier.
- A good electric screwdriver will make short work of the disassembly process.
- 1962 September, G. Freeman Allen, “The New Look in Scotland's Northern Division—1”, in Modern Railways, page 164:
- [...] a cab ride in one of the Birmingham Type 2 diesels over the Mallaig extension demonstrated what short work—and what a transformation of the engineman's lot—these machines make of the gradients by comparison with their steam predecessors.
- (transitive, idiomatic) To deal with or overcome (someone or something) quickly and without difficulty.
- 1897, Maynard Barbour, chapter 26, in The Award of Justice:
- "There was desperate characters here, but the vigilantes made short work of 'em."
- 1914 June, James Joyce, “Counterparts”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:
- "You impertinent ruffian! You impertinent ruffian! I'll make short work of you!"
- 2021 March 19, Bosnian Ape Society, 5:23 from the start, in Is Your Car Safe From Supermaneuverable Air-Defense Fighter Aircraft?[1], archived from the original on 7 August 2022:
- With what you have learned from your drivers' education course so far, you should be able to make short work of an enemy aircraft.
- 2023 February 8, Greg Morse, “Crossing the border... by Sleeper”, in RAIL, number 976, page 42:
- I arrange some of my things and sit back, making short work of the chocolate bars supplied to passengers.
Synonyms edit
Translations edit
make (a task) quicker or easier
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deal with or overcome (someone or something) quickly and without difficulty
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