Library / English Dictionary

SHORTAGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The property of being an amount by which something is less than expected or required

Example:

new blood vessels bud out from the already dilated vascular bed to make up the nutritional deficit

Synonyms:

deficit; shortage; shortfall

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("shortage" is a kind of...):

deficiency; inadequacy; insufficiency (lack of an adequate quantity or number)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shortage"):

oxygen deficit (temporary oxygen shortage in cells resulting from strenuous exercise)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An acute insufficiency

Synonyms:

dearth; famine; shortage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("shortage" is a kind of...):

deficiency; lack; want (the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable)

Credits