shortchange

verb

1. (transitive)To defraud (someone) by giving them less change than they should be given after a transaction.

   “I got shortchanged! I gave him $10 for a $5 item and he only gave me $1 back.”

2. (broadly, transitive)To deprive (someone or something) of something due; to treat unfairly; to cheat, deceive; to half-ass.

   “The elective class was easy, but in the end I was shortchanging myself by taking it.”

   “This article's sparse discussion of tax-policy implications shortchanges the subject.”

   “Specific evidence that the United States is being short-changed in the cultural exchange program with the Soviet Union has been offered by Representative Michael Feighan of Ohio, chairman of the House subcommittee and the joint Senate House Committee on Immigration and Nationality Policy.”

   “Dr. [James D.] Watson’s tell-all memoir, “The Double Helix,” had also provoked his colleagues when it was published in 1968, infuriating them for, in their view, elevating himself while shortchanging others who were involved in the project.”