Hope this helps. More examples are below. Good luck, tinageta!
A short circuit.
A malfunction caused by a short circuit.

v. intr.
To short-circuit.
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connect (directly) together and cause a short (popularly understood as an undesirable faulty electrical situation,likely to involve any of smoke, sparks - arcing, flames,a bang, burnt-out devices, a call to the electrician, expense and inconvenience)

From a non-electrician.

my understanding. Yes, you are right. do not cause/create a short (circuit) across the (positive and negative) terminals (of the appliance/power supply, I guess) - I think we usually say 'across', but I couldn't be 100% sure about that.

'short together'? not sure if this is a standard usage - doesn't sound like it to me. -> connect together and cause a short

Two (or 3) things are involved with a 'short'- 1 the wrong-headed direct connection of the terminals (without a load or something between them, I think that is it) and 2 the resulting phenomenon - a faulty connection (= 'short' with reverse current, possible damage etc) (3 the dead circuit or visible arcing, smoke, melt-down etc which may occur)

Dictionary definition:
short circuit (noun) (informal = short) = a faulty electrical connection which causes the current to flow in the wrong direction, often having the effect of stopping the power supply
short-circuit (verb) (informal = short) = eg If these two wires touch, the appliance will short-circuit and probably go up in flames. The plumber's shorted the electric shower.

Yes, short circuit = 3 things. The Collins dictionary agrees.
short-circuit = to make a short-circuit in
short circuit = 1 a usually accidental low-resistance connection between two points in an electric circuit that deflects the current or causes excessive current flow 2 popularly, a disrupted electric circuit resulting from this
short = 1 clipped form of short circuit 2 clipped form of short-circuit



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Note added at 19 hrs 57 mins (2005-01-14 01:11:31 GMT)
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correction: short-circuit = to make a short circuit in