Shortage Meaning
/ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA lack or deficiency; an insufficient amount.
Sentence Examples
This city will suffer from an acute water shortage unless it rains soon.
The shortage of engineers is the greatest bottleneck to the development of our company.
There is a severe shortage of skilled personnel.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The drought caused a severe water ____ in the region.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Severe drought conditions in the region led to a critical ____ of water for both people and crops.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Proto-Germanic *skertaną Proto-Germanic *skurtaz Proto-West Germanic *skurt Old English sċort Middle English schort English short Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Old French -agebor. Middle English -age English -age English shortage From short + -age.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The admirable smoothness of the riding also reflected the greatest credit on those who, despite the difficulties caused by the shortage of men and materials, have succeeded in maintaining the track in such first-class order."
— 1946 July and August, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 213:
"The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.[…]It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber."
— 2013 August 3, “The future of oil: Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 18 Dec 2013:
"The coup was well-planned. Fuel was artificially held back so as to create shortages and dissatisfaction with Brotherhood rule. The old state-controlled unions mounted public sector strikes that further sabotaged the economy and annoyed people. Police-controlled thugs who had been used against the Tahrir Square demonstrations in 2011 came back into action."
— 2013 August 23, Jonathan Steele, “The west has little influence in Egypt”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 11, archived from the original on 05 Jan 2020, page 18:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The drought caused a severe water ____ in the region.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Severe drought conditions in the region led to a critical ____ of water for both people and crops.