Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Shorthand \Short"hand`\, n.
   A compendious and rapid method or writing by substituting
   characters, abbreviations, or symbols, for letters, words,
   etc.; short writing; stenography. See Illust. under
   {Phonography}.

Source : WordNet®

shorthand
     adj : written in abbreviated or symbolic form; "shorthand notes"

shorthand
     n : a method of writing rapidly [syn: {stenography}]