Verb
To come to a sudden and unexpected stop, particularly while speaking or driving a vehicle.
(usually with of) To voluntarily cease an attempt to reach a certain point.
Synonym: hold back
(with of) To come to a stop before reaching a certain point.
Source: en.wiktionary.orgThe pursuit of truth, properly considered, shouldn't stop short of insanity. Errol Morris
My dear Tiberius, you must not give way to youthful emotion or take it to heart if anyone speaks ill of me; let us be satisfied if we can make people stop short at unkind words. Augustus
A lot of people stop short. They don't actually die but they say, 'Right I'm old, and I'm going to retire,' and then they dwindle into nothing. They go off to Florida and become jolly boring. Mary Wesley
We can't stop short. If we stop now - leaving terror camps intact and terror states unchecked - our sense of security would be false and temporary. History has called America and our allies to action, and it is both our responsibility and our privilege to fight freedom's fight. George W. Bush
ENTERTAINMENT, n. Any kind of amusement whose inroads stop short of death by injection. Ambrose Bierce
To stop short in any research that bids fair to widen the gates of knowledge, to recoil from fear of difficulty or adverse criticism, is to bring reproach on science. William Crookes