Definition of "shortly"

shortly

/ʃɔːɹtli/

adverb
not comparable
1. In a short or brief time or manner; quickly.
2. In or after a short time; soon.
  Quotations
  No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.
  1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., page 46
3. In few words
  Quotations
  We shall not describe this tragical scene too fully; but we thought ourselves obliged, by that historic integrity which we profess, shortly to hint a matter which we would otherwise have been glad to have spared.
  1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […]
4. In an irritable ("short") manner.
  Quotations
  'Well, I still think it was a rather off-hand way for you—for anyone—to behave,' he said shortly.Suddenly Melody felt trapped—and annoyed. And she didn't like being spoken to like a child, either.
  2009, Susanne James, The Millionaire's Chosen Bride, page 147

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