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

Until I get one I suppose there will be short commons.

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

To have "saved" one of the world's greatest forces, to have "made him a man" was more than an equivalent for living on short commons for some few weeks while they were getting under way.

From Revisiting the Earth by Hill, James Langdon