A short circuit is a fault where current takes a wrong easy path. Cause a short circuit.
The current rises enormously because nothing is resisting it, which is what starts fires. A fuse exists entirely to break a short circuit before the wire heats.
1nounshort circuitA fault where current takes a wrong easy path.
“A short circuit in the loft took out the whole upstairs.”
short circuit is a fault.
Short plus circuit, from the shorter path the current takes.
short + circuit
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Repair & Damage