short out
Verb
Meaning
short out (third-person singular simple present shorts out, present participle shorting out, simple past and past participle shorted out)
(transitive, intransitive) To short circuit.
Synonyms
Examples
Apparently some affected batteries can short out and overheat.
If you reversed the polarity, the diode wouldn’t be wired in the correct way anymore, and would instead short out the power supply anytime the motor was on.
The city quickly evacuated the Loop and financial district in fear that electrical wires could short out.
The pre-ionisation in some situations can literally short out part of the final EMP, by allowing a conduction current to immediately oppose the Compton current of electrons.) Louis W. Seiler, Jr. A Calculational Model for High Altitude EMP.
The unpowered CM got so cold that water began to condense on solid surfaces, causing concern that this might short out electrical systems when it was reactivated.