Alternative spelling of short circuit operator [(computing) A logical operator that returns a value as soon as the outcome is certain, without necessarily testing all operands (for example, an OR operator returning true if the first operand evaluates as true, without evaluating the second operand).]

Short-circuit evaluation, minimal evaluation, or McCarthy evaluation (after John McCarthy) is the semantics of some Boolean operators in some programming languages in which the second argument is executed or evaluated only if the first argument does not suffice to determine the value of the expression: when the first argument of the AND function evaluates to false, the overall value must be false; and when the first argument of the OR function evaluates to true, the overall value must be true.

The purpose of a short-circuit test is to determine the series branch parameters of the equivalent circuit of a transformer.

The prospective short-circuit current, available fault current, or short-circuit making current is the highest electric current which can exist in a particular electrical system under short-circuit conditions.