as in shortage
a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number
a growing deficit in the number of hours devoted to sleep
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Recent Examples of deficit
Another run in the next inning left Nazarene with a 10-1 deficit.
—
Mike Waters, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 May 2025
The Pacers launched a mini comeback and cut that to 11 points in the fourth but, with the specter of a 3-0 deficit looming, the Cavs rallied to ultimately take a comfortable win.
—Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 10 May 2025
Marchand’s goal with 4:33 left in OT won the game, 5-4, over Toronto, halving Florida’s second-round playoff series deficit to 2-1.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 10 May 2025
The Knicks erased 20-point deficits in winning Games 1 and 2 against the defending champion Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with Game 3 set for Saturday in New York.
—Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for deficit
Mike Waters, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 May 2025
The Pacers launched a mini comeback and cut that to 11 points in the fourth but, with the specter of a 3-0 deficit looming, the Cavs rallied to ultimately take a comfortable win.
—Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 10 May 2025
Marchand’s goal with 4:33 left in OT won the game, 5-4, over Toronto, halving Florida’s second-round playoff series deficit to 2-1.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 10 May 2025
The Knicks erased 20-point deficits in winning Games 1 and 2 against the defending champion Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with Game 3 set for Saturday in New York.
—Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for deficit
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deficit
Noun
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Bad weather, the months long renovation of one of Newark's busiest runways for departing flights and a shortage of air traffic controllers have led to more than a week of of long delays and cancellations at the airport.—
Jaclyn Diaz,
NPR,
8 May 2025
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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
Noun
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But the lack of GLP-1 receptors in the liver suggests that the drug doesn’t work directly on the organ but instead has an indirect effect by lowering weight and blood sugar levels, said Abdelmalek.—
Cathy Nelson,
Health,
13 May 2025
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However, after the North Carolina Supreme Court overturned their case in 2021 due to a lack of a fair trial, Molly and Thomas pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and received lesser sentences.—
Emily Blackwood,
People.com,
13 May 2025
Noun
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Due to the amount of sodium in the standard American diet, sodium deficiencies are quite rare.—
Angelica Bottaro,
Verywell Health,
7 May 2025
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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
Cite this Entry
“Deficit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deficit. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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