short-cut

[shawrt-kuht] /ˈʃɔrtˌkʌt/
verb (used with object), short-cut, short-cutting.
1.
to cause to be shortened by the use of a shortcut.
verb (used without object), short-cut, short-cutting.
2.
to use or take a shortcut.
Origin
1560-70
Related forms
short-cutter, noun

shortcut

[shawrt-kuht] /ˈʃɔrtˌkʌt/
noun
1.
a shorter or quicker way.
2.
a method, procedure, policy, etc., that reduces the time or energy needed to accomplish something.
adjective
3.
constituting or providing a shorter or quicker way:
shortcut methods.
Origin
1560-70; short + cut
Examples from the web for shortcut
  • Our two guides had suggested a shortcut across a coastal lava flow.
  • The sights one misses taking that shortcut are probably worth seeing.
  • They were also a shortcut to name recognition and technology that would otherwise have taken years to develop.
  • Coercion offers a tempting shortcut, but it usually backfires.
  • They appear to offer a shortcut to success, especially in the aftermath of the election.
  • When the installation is complete, run the program from the newly created shortcut on your desktop.
  • The widget also contains a shortcut to your iPod app in case you want to view your whole library.
  • Some might say effort: the problem with drugs is that they provide a shortcut, a way to win without striving.
  • Theory cannot be a shortcut because this tests theory's founding postulates.
  • That's a shortcut in place of real debate and taking an argument on its merits.
Word Origin and History for shortcut
n.

also short-cut, "path not as long as the ordinary way," 1610s, from short (adj.) + cut (n.). Figurative use is attested earlier (1580s).

shortcut in Technology

file system
Microsoft Corporation's term for a symbolic link, stored as a file with extension ".lnk". Shortcuts first appeared in 1996 in the Windows 95 operating system. Windows shortcuts can link to any file or directory ("folder"), including those on remote computers, using UNC paths. Each shortcut can also have its own icon. A shortcut that links to an executable file can pass arguments and specify the directory in which the command should run. Unlike a Unix symbolic link, a shortcut does not always behave exactly like the target file or directory.
Compare pif.
(2001-12-18)