as in lack
a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number
there was a troubling shortage of supplies for the troops overseas this year
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Recent Examples of shortage
The Federal Aviation Administration faces a shortage of roughly 3,500 air traffic controllers, with staffing gaps affecting nearly every control tower.
—
Samantha-Jo Roth, The Washington Examiner, 8 May 2025
Donoghue did plenty as commissioner, most notably in trying to fix the lifeguard shortage and seeing the retirement of the dictatorial lifeguard union chief Peter Stein, who finally left the city payroll on Jan. 14 after 60 years!
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 7 May 2025
But the site had struggled with a lack of staffing in recent years, part of a broader shortage of controllers that has hit airports around the US.
—Casey Tolan, CNN Money, 7 May 2025
Major delays and cancellations that have been plaguing travelers coming in and out of the Newark Liberty International Airport in the past week could continue well into the next week and beyond if multiple issues, including staffing shortages and equipment malfunctions, aren't solved.
—Kiki Intarasuwan, CBS News, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for shortage
Samantha-Jo Roth, The Washington Examiner, 8 May 2025
Donoghue did plenty as commissioner, most notably in trying to fix the lifeguard shortage and seeing the retirement of the dictatorial lifeguard union chief Peter Stein, who finally left the city payroll on Jan. 14 after 60 years!
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 7 May 2025
But the site had struggled with a lack of staffing in recent years, part of a broader shortage of controllers that has hit airports around the US.
—Casey Tolan, CNN Money, 7 May 2025
Major delays and cancellations that have been plaguing travelers coming in and out of the Newark Liberty International Airport in the past week could continue well into the next week and beyond if multiple issues, including staffing shortages and equipment malfunctions, aren't solved.
—Kiki Intarasuwan, CBS News, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for shortage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shortage
Noun
-
The lack of border security created real problems for Americans, including crimes such as human trafficking and drug smuggling.—
Nicole Russell,
USA Today,
2 May 2025
-
Adventure, some experts claim, is a happening, or series of happenings, which stems from a source such as carelessness, impulsive action or lack of preparation.—
Charles Elliott,
Outdoor Life,
1 May 2025
Noun
-
These common attacks are caused by security deficiencies, including Active Directory misconfigurations, weak password policies, permissive access rules and weak authentication mechanisms.—
Reuven Aronashvili,
Forbes.com,
7 May 2025
-
Due to the amount of sodium in the standard American diet, sodium deficiencies are quite rare.—
Angelica Bottaro,
Verywell Health,
7 May 2025
Noun
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What are the ways in which things decline on a societal level once this current degree of scarcity returns?—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
2 May 2025
-
Due to their exclusivity and scarcity, many Record Store Day titles sell out immediately.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
1 May 2025
Noun
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But Republicans, backed by Majority Leader Thune, are already looking to bypass that rule--and the parliamentarian--in order to use a favorable analysis for the deficit impact of the tax cuts.—
Susan Davis,
NPR,
30 Apr. 2025
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In the Championship, London City Lionesses’ £2.5m deficit was the largest loss; at the other end of the scale, Durham turned a profit, albeit only £38,000.—
Steve Madeley,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shortage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shortage. Accessed 13 May. 2025.
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