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
-
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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The defendants insisted there was no conspiracy and that NASL’s lack of recognition as a D1 or D2 league reflected its failure to meet objective metrics, including minimum stadium seating capacity, number of teams and time zone coverage.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
13 May 2025
Noun
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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
-
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
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Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story (CRAVE) Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story creatively chronicles the life of pioneering trans soul and R&B singer Jackie Shane, who has largely been forgotten due to the scarcity of video footage from her performances.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
1 May 2025
Noun
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The Celtics will have to make the NBA’s 14th comeback from a 3-1 deficit to extend their title reign and may have to do it without All-Star Jayson Tatum, who was carried off the court with a right leg injury with 2:58 left.—
Brian Mahoney,
Baltimore Sun,
13 May 2025
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But Providence, which had rallied from 2-1 deficits for back-to-back 3-2 victories in the first two games in Charlotte, scored twice in the next 12 1/2 minutes, the last on a power play.—
Richard Walker,
Charlotte Observer,
12 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shortage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shortage. Accessed 16 May. 2025.
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