shortages
USSHOR-ti-jiz/ˈʃɔɹtɪd͡ʒɪz/UKSHAW-ti-jiz/ˈʃɔːtɪd͡ʒɪz/
- 1Plural of shortage.
Wartime shortages forced families to ration sugar, butter, and gasoline.
Hospitals reported staffing shortages across several departments this winter.
Note
A plain -s plural of a noun that works both as a count word and as a mass word. Only the count use takes a plural. It marks several separate deficits, whether of different goods, in different places, or at different times, rather than one gap in supply. When the lack is single and overall, English keeps the singular: a shortage of nurses, not shortages of nurses.
shortages is a form of shortage
shortage, noun: A lack or deficiency of something; less than the amount that is needed. Full entry
- Forms
- shortageshortages plural
- Spelling
- shortage → shortages: add -s
Use it in a sentence
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