Come up short
The crossword clue "Come up short" is answered by OWE, a 3-letter entry. Used 30 times across 17 distinct years; most recently in 2025; first recorded in 2003. It appears in 11 publications in the xd corpus. Every figure on this page comes from the collection data itself.
The answer
OWE
3 letters. See every clue for this answer on the OWE answer page.
Used 30 times across 17 distinct years; most recently in 2025; first recorded in 2003. It appears in 11 publications in the xd corpus. Frequency and last-seen figures come from the xd crossword corpus only.
Other answers for this clue
The same clue has also been answered these ways in the xd corpus. Answers inside this collection link to their own answer page.
- FALLSHY (1 uses in xd)
Other clues for OWE
Every other clue in this collection answered by OWE, most used first.
- Have debts - used 217 times, most recently in 2026
- Have bills - used 165 times, most recently in 2026
- Be in debt - used 146 times, most recently in 2026
- Be in the red - used 135 times, most recently in 2026
- Need to pay - used 82 times, most recently in 2026
- Be indebted to - used 81 times, most recently in 2025
- Be in arrears - used 65 times, most recently in 2026
- Be beholden to - used 62 times, most recently in 2026
- Be behind - used 56 times, most recently in 2026
- "I ___ you one" - used 53 times, most recently in 2026
- Need to repay - used 42 times, most recently in 2026
- See red? - used 39 times, most recently in 2024
- Have bills to pay - used 37 times, most recently in 2026
- Carry a balance - used 36 times, most recently in 2026
- Be shy - used 35 times, most recently in 2026
- Be in debt to - used 33 times, most recently in 2026
- Be short - used 33 times, most recently in 2025
- Have a tab - used 32 times, most recently in 2024
- Part of IOU - used 32 times, most recently in 2025
- Be indebted - used 30 times, most recently in 2026
- Be in the hole - used 29 times, most recently in 2025
- Be obligated to - used 23 times, most recently in 2025
- Be in hock - used 22 times, most recently in 2020
- Have unpaid bills - used 22 times, most recently in 2024
- Run up a tab - used 22 times, most recently in 2021
- Get behind - used 21 times, most recently in 2026
Related clues
Clues in this collection of the same answer length that share a word with this clue, or match its answer pattern when no word is shared. Most used first.
- Back muscle, for short - LAT, used 189 times
- Life story, for short - BIO, used 140 times
- Sixth sense, for short - ESP, used 137 times
- Chest muscle, for short - PEC, used 120 times
- Short snooze - NAP, used 98 times
- Aliens, for short - ETS, used 91 times
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