shortage
/ˈʃɔːtɪdʒ
/noun
A state or situation in which something needed cannot be obtained in sufficient amounts: a shortage of hard cash food shortages [mass noun]: the problems of land shortage in the countryside...
- There are many parts of the world where the shortage of food lasts for years, not just for one.
- Demand has been driven by shortages of property and land to develop in these areas.
- Food shortages were a problem both for natives and refugees at the end of the war.
Synonyms
scarcity, sparseness, sparsity, dearth, paucity, poverty, insufficiency, deficiency, inadequacy, famine, lack, want, meagreness, scantiness, limitedness, restrictedness, deficit, shortfall, rarity, rareness
rare exiguity
Rhymes
- least significant bit
- least squares
- leastways
- leastwise
- least worst
- leat
- leather
- leatherback
- leatherback turtle
- leather-bound
- leather carp
- leathercloth
- leathered
- leatherette
- leather goods
- leather-hard
- leatheriness
- leatherjacket
- leatherleaf
- leather-like
- leathern
- leatherneck
- leatherwear
- leatherwood
- leatherwork