stop short

Cameron said no, reasoning that Scotland was likely to opt for greater devolution but would stop short of total independence.

He does stop short of making Anders just another Wall Street moustache-twirler.

Betting that the sides will stop short of an all-out war is an increasingly risky gamble.

We wanted the Northern Alliance to stop short of Kabul when the Taliban fled the city.

However rapid her spring might be, however slippery the stone she was on, she would always stop short at the word "Mignonne."

Then when he caught a faint whiff of the game, he would stop short, and look around, and wag his tail.

Those two worthies would go as far as they dared, but they would stop short of any desperate work.

Thirdly, once they have established a reputation for themselves they become so chesty that they stop short of nothing.

"You need not stop short," said his father, with a sardonic look for the concluding lines.