short commons

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Meg looked worn and nervous, the babies absorbed every minute of her time, the house was neglected, and Kitty, the cook, who took life ‘aisy’, kept him on short commons.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Already they were getting used to much walking on short commons — shorter at any rate than what in the Shire they would have thought barely enough to keep them on their legs.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

The vegetation was springing up here, and the good pasturage induced us to grant our cattle some days' rest, as they had been on short commons lately.

From The Backwoodsman or, Life on the Indian Frontier by Various

I tell you that we may be down to short commons again, as we used to be in Bloomingsburg.

From The Corner House Girls How they moved to Milton, what they found, and what they did by Hill, Grace Brooks

It is, however, rumored that short commons, long tramps, and hope deferred bring most of them to the hospitals, where it is tenderly called pneumonia.

From McClure's Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 5, October 1893 by Various