- 1nB2
/ˈʃɔːrtɪdʒ/ · /ˈʃɔːtɪdʒ/
A gap between how much people need and how much is actually there.
短缺
複數 shortages
核心畫面
Picture the gap between how much of something is needed and how much there actually is. The word does not mean 'a small amount' — it means the amount falls short of a need. That is why it always implies someone waiting: empty shelves, a hospital short of nurses, a country short of rain.
可以想成：「需要多少」和「實際有多少」之間的那個缺口。這個字的重點不是「數量少」，而是「不夠用」——所以它背後一定有…更多收起
可以想成：「需要多少」和「實際有多少」之間的那個缺口。這個字的重點不是「數量少」，而是「不夠用」——所以它背後一定有人在等：空了的貨架、缺護理人員的醫院、久旱不雨的地區。同一個數量，在沒有需求的地方就不叫 shortage，這是理解它最關鍵的一點。原始詞典資料1 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
shortagenoun/ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/
- 1
A lack or deficiency; an insufficient amount.
- 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.
- 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.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。