SHORTAGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shortage mean? 

• SHORTAGE (noun)
  The noun SHORTAGE has 2 senses:

1. the property of being an amount by which something is less than expected or required

2. an acute insufficiency

  Familiarity information: SHORTAGE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHORTAGE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The property of being an amount by which something is less than expected or required

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

deficit; shortage; shortfall

Context example:

new blood vessels bud out from the already dilated vascular bed to make up the nutritional deficit

Hypernyms ("shortage" is a kind of...):

deficiency; inadequacy; insufficiency (lack of an adequate quantity or number)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shortage"):

oxygen deficit (temporary oxygen shortage in cells resulting from strenuous exercise)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An acute insufficiency

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

dearth; famine; shortage

Hypernyms ("shortage" is a kind of...):

deficiency; lack; want (the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable)

 Context examples 

A drug used to relieve the symptoms of certain hormone shortages and to suppress an immune response.

(Hydrocortisone, NCI Dictionary)

In medicine, a shortage of a substance (such as a vitamin or mineral) needed by the body.

(Deficiency, NCI Dictionary)

Consequently, shortage of mevalonate impedes the synthesis of downstream isoprenoids that are essential for protein prenylation.

(Apomine, NCI Thesaurus)

Shortage of asparagine prevents synthesis of important proteins necessary for tumor cell growth.

(Erythrocyte-encapsulated L-asparaginase Suspension, NCI Thesaurus)

A joint report from the United Nations and the European Union found that millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from acute food shortage each year.

(Poor Diet Kills More People Than Smoking, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

As a result, kelp forests face a potential shortage of nitrogen just as long summer days are poised to fuel algal growth, said lead author Joey Peters.

(In search of an undersea kelp forest's missing nitrogen, National Science Foundation)

National Research Service Award (NRSA) institutional training grants (T32) enable eligible institutions to develop or enhance predoctoral and postdoctoral research training opportunities for individuals, selected by the institution, who are training for careers in specified shortage areas of biomedical and behavioral research.

(Institutional National Research Service Award, NCI Thesaurus)

To provide the opportunity for promising medical scientists with demonstrated aptitude to develop into independent investigators, or for faculty members to pursue research aspects of categorical areas applicable to the awarding unit, and aid in filling the academic faculty gap in these shortage areas within health professions institutions of the country.

(Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (K08), NCI Thesaurus)