Word family noun short shortage shortness shorts shorty adjective short verb shorten short adverb short shortly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishshortageshort‧age /ˈʃɔːtɪdʒ $ ˈʃɔːr-/ ●●○ noun [countable, uncountable] ENOUGH#a situation in which there is not enough of something that people need SYN lackshortage of a shortage of skilled labour There is no shortage of funds.COLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + shortagea severe/serious shortageThere is a serious shortage of food in some areas.an acute shortage (=very bad)They were suffering because of an acute shortage of doctors and nurses.a desperate/dire shortage (=very serious and worrying)There is a desperate shortage of fresh water in the disaster area.a chronic shortage (=very bad and existing for a long time)There is a chronic shortage of housing in rural areas.a growing shortage (=one that is increasing)The United States is facing a growing shortage of information technology workers.a general shortage (=a shortage of lots of different kinds of things or people)There was a general shortage of skilled workers.a national/world shortageThere is likely to be a world shortage of timber in the future.a water/food/housing etc shortageThe water shortage was reaching crisis proportions.a labour/manpower shortage (=a shortage of people to do work)During the war, there was a severe labour shortage, so women began doing jobs they had never done before.a staff shortage (=a shortage of people to work at a particular business)The company blamed staff shortages for the delays.verbscreate/cause a shortagePoor harvests could cause food shortages in the winter.lead to/result in a shortageThe strike led to serious shortages of fuel in some areas.face a shortage (=be likely to suffer a shortage)The refugees face desperate shortages of food and water.ease a shortage (=make it less serious)Building more houses will ease the shortage of accommodation. Examples from the Corpus
shortage• Meanwhile job hunters have been complaining that there is a shortage of jobs.• There is a shortage of nurses and doctors in this area.• The accident, as it turns out, was a broken mirror and more than likely a shortage of time.• A mentally deficient or unstable individual was not wanted on the line, even if there was a shortage of men.• They have too few people to boss about, but no shortage of guns and grievances.• Manila is a city that runs on gossip, and there is no shortage of it at the moment.• There is no shortage of objections to both causalism and functionalism.• With critical power shortages throughout the region, the timing could not be worse for a looming emergency drought declaration.• The drop in the birth rate 20 years ago has created a severe shortage of workers.• The main reason is the shortage of real attractions.• Parts of Britain are suffering water shortages after the unusually dry summer.shortage of• a severe shortage of skilled laborFrom Longman Business Dictionaryshortageshort‧age /ˈʃɔːtɪdʒˈʃɔːr-/ noun [countable, uncountable] a situation in which there is not enough of something that people need or wantWe suffer from a labor shortage.The real estate developer is facing an acute cash shortage.shortage ofThere was an energy crisis caused by a shortage of imported oil.There will be no shortage of applicants (=there will be a lot). 