shortage

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

short·age

(shôr′tĭj)

A deficiency in amount; an insufficiency.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

shortage

(ˈʃɔːtɪdʒ)

a deficiency or lack in the amount needed, expected, or due; deficit

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

short•age

(ˈʃɔr tɪdʒ)

n.

1. a deficiency in quantity: a shortage of cash.

2. the amount of such deficiency.

[1865–70]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	shortage - the property of being an amount by which something is less than expected or required; "new blood vessels bud out from the already dilated vascular bed to make up the nutritional deficit" deficit, shortfall inadequacy, deficiency, insufficiency - lack of an adequate quantity or number; "the inadequacy of unemployment benefits" oxygen deficit - temporary oxygen shortage in cells resulting from strenuous exercise
	2.	shortage - an acute insufficiency dearth, famine deficiency, lack, want - the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable; "there is a serious lack of insight into the problem"; "water is the critical deficiency in desert regions"; "for want of a nail the shoe was lost"

shortage

noun deficiency, want, lack, failure, deficit, poverty, shortfall, inadequacy, scarcity, dearth, paucity, insufficiency There's no shortage of ideas.
excess, surplus, abundance, plethora, sufficiency, profusion, surfeit, adequate amount, overabundance

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

shortage

noun

The condition or fact of being deficient:

defect, deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency, lack, paucity, poverty, scantiness, scantness, scarceness, scarcity, shortcoming, shortfall, underage.

Translations

عَجْزنَقْص، نُقْصان

nedostatek

mangel

Knappheit

ανεπάρκεια λιμός

escasez falta carencia carestía

pulapuute

manque pénurie privation vice défaut

nestašica

elégtelenséghiány

skortur

carenza difetto penuria scarsit...scarsità

不足

부족

pomanjkanje

brist

การขาดแคลน

darlık kıtlık yokluk

sự thiếu

短缺缺少

shortage

[ˈʃɔːtɪdʒ] N

1. (= lack) → escasez f, falta f
a water shortage → escasez or falta de agua
shortage of staff → escasez or falta de personal
the housing shortage → la crisis de la vivienda
there is no shortage of advice → no es que falten consejos, no faltan los consejos

2. (= state of deficiency) → escasez f
in times of shortage → en las épocas de escasez

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

shortage

[ˈʃɔː^rtɪdʒ] n [food, supplies, funds, resources, staff, ideas] → manque m, pénurie f
a water shortage → une pénurie d'eau
a shortage of sth → un manque de qch, une pénurie de qch
a shortage in sth → un manque de qch, une pénurie de qchshort back and sides short-back-and-sides (British) n → coupe f dégagée derrière et sur les côtés

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

shortage

n (of goods, objects) → Knappheit f no pl (→ of an +dat); (of people) → Mangel m no pl (→ of an +dat); the housing shortage → die Wohnungsknappheit; a shortage of staff → ein Mangel m → an Arbeitskräften, ein Personalmangel m; in times of shortage → in Zeiten der Knappheit; there are always shortages → irgendetwas ist immer knapp; there’s no shortage of advice → es fehlt nicht an guten Ratschlägen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

shortage

[ˈʃɔːtɪdʒ] n → carenza, scarsità f inv
the housing shortage → la crisi degli alloggi

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

short

(ʃoːt) adjective

1. not long. You look nice with your hair short; Do you think my dress is too short?

2. not tall; smaller than usual. a short man.

3. not lasting long; brief. a short film; in a very short time; I've a very short memory for details.

4. not as much as it should be. When I checked my change, I found it was 20 cents short.

5. (with of) not having enough (money etc). Most of us are short of money these days.

6. (of pastry) made so that it is crisp and crumbles easily.

adverb

1. suddenly; abruptly. He stopped short when he saw me.

2. not as far as intended. The shot fell short.

ˈshortness noun

ˈshortage (-tidʒ) noun

a lack; the state of not having enough. a shortage of water.

ˈshorten verb

to make or become shorter. The dress is too long – we'll have to shorten it.

ˈshortening noun

(especially American) the fat used for making pastry.

ˈshortly adverb

soon. He will be here shortly; Shortly after that, the police arrived.

shorts noun plural

short trousers for men or women.

ˈshortbread noun

a kind of crisp, crumbling biscuit.

ˌshort-ˈchange verb

to cheat (a buyer) by giving him too little change.

short circuit the missing out by an electric current of a part of an electrical circuit (verb ˌshort-ˈcircuit)

ˈshortcoming noun

a fault.

ˈshortcut noun

a quicker way between two places. I'm in a hurry – I'll take a shortcut across the field.

ˈshorthand noun

a method of writing rapidly, using strokes, dots etc to represent sounds.

ˌshort-ˈhanded adjective

having fewer workers than are necessary or usual.

ˈshort-list noun

a list of candidates selected from the total number of applicants for a job etc.

verb

to put on a short-list. We've short-listed three of the twenty applicants.

ˌshort-ˈlived (-ˈlivd) , ((American) -ˈlaivd) adjective

living or lasting only for a short time. short-lived insects; short-lived enthusiasm.

ˌshort-ˈrange adjective

1. not reaching a long distance. short-range missiles.

2. not covering a long time. a short-range weather forecast.

ˌshort-ˈsighted adjective

seeing clearly only things that are near. I don't recognize people at a distance because I'm short-sighted.

ˌshort-ˈsightedly adverb

ˌshort-ˈsightedness noun

ˌshort-ˈtempered adjective

easily made angry. My husband is very short-tempered in the mornings.

ˌshort-ˈterm adjective

1. concerned only with the near future. short-term plans.

2. lasting only a short time. a short-term loan.

by a short head

by a very small amount. to win by a short head.

for short

as an abbreviation. His name is Victor, but we call him Vic for short.

go short

to cause oneself not to have enough of something. Save this carton for tomorrow, or else we'll go short (of milk).

in short

in a few words.

in short supply

not available in sufficient quantity. Fresh vegetables are in short supply.

make short work of

to dispose of very quickly. The children made short work of the ice-cream.

run short

1. (of a supply) to become insufficient. Our money is running short.

2. (with of) not to have enough. We're running short of money.

short and sweet

His reply was short and sweet: `Get out!' he shouted.

short for

an abbreviation of. `Phone' is short for `telephone'; What is `Ltd.' short for?

short of

not as far as or as much as. Our total came to just short of $1,000; We stopped five miles short of London.

shortage

→ عَجْز nedostatek mangel Knappheit ανεπάρκεια escasez pula pénurie nestašica carenza 不足 부족 tekort mangel niedobór escassez дефицит brist การขาดแคลน yokluk sự thiếu 短缺

shortage

n. carencia, falta, déficit.

References in classic literature ?

Recognising the value to the bank of a spotless reputation for its officers, the President drew his check for the amount of the shortage and the Cashier was restored to favour.

View in context

The only calm occupant of the room was Eustace himself, who, either through a shortage of ammunition or through weariness of the pitching-arm, had suspended active hostilities, and was now looking down on the scene from a high shelf.

View in context

When I left the group Bertie was off on a new tack tormenting them with the more serious aspects of the situation, pointing out the shortage of supplies that was already making itself felt, and asking them what they were going to do about it.

It did look as though there was going to be at least a temporary food shortage, and I hugged myself over the goodly stock of provisions I had laid in.

View in context

Owing to the shortage of women, many of the men tied bandanna handkerchiefs around their arms in token of femininity and danced with other men.

View in context

Shortage of samples hits quality control body BIS, facilities stay underutilised

' We are out of work, send samples here'

There needs to be initiatives put in place to address the shortage of nurse educators and RNs.

Nursing faculty shortage: a piece of the nursing shortage puzzle

The app "is an innovative tool that will offer easier and faster access to important drug shortage information," Capt.

FDA's mobile app provides drug shortage information

Meanwhile, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi declared to resume the supply of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations in Lahore due to acute fuel shortage. The premier also directed provincial governments to stop black marketing of petrol in their respective provinces.

Petrol crises PM suspends four top officials Asks provinces to check black-marketing of petrol

There is no shortage of three-per-pack Jockey women's briefs in

Psalm in the Spirit of Overstock.com

Regarding the effect of the talent shortage on their organizations, the highest percentage of employers in Bulgaria (51%) say that it reduces the competitiveness and productivity, while 46% say that shortages significantly impact their ability to meet client needs, and 39% complain of reduced innovation and creativity.

Employers Struggle with Shortage of Engineers, IT Specialists - Survey

At first this paper discusses the microeconomic measures of skill shortage and explores the determinants of skill shortages i.e.