shortage
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English
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
shortage (countable and uncountable, plural shortages)
- A lack or deficiency; an insufficient amount.
- 1946 July and August, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 213:
- The admirable smoothness of the riding also reflected the greatest credit on those who, despite the difficulties caused by the shortage of men and materials, have succeeded in maintaining the track in such first-class order.
- 2013 August 3, “The future of oil: Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 18 December 2013:
- The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. […] It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber.
Antonyms
- glut
- mountain (as in butter mountain)
- surplus
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
lack or deficiency
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked: "deleted sense: not enough, not sufficient"
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.