dearth
“
Such a dearth was there of these latter articles, that anything, even a little child's story-book, or the half of a shipping calendar, appeared like a treasure.
View all »Definitions (10)
American Heritage Dictionary (2)
- noun A scarce supply; a lack: "the dearth of uncensored, firsthand information about the war” (Richard Zoglin).
- noun Shortage of food; famine.
Century Dictionary (5)
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
WordNet (2)
Elsewhere on the web
View all » Examples
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Such a dearth was there of these latter articles, that anything, even a little child's story-book, or the half of a shipping calendar, appeared like a treasure.
— Two Years Before the Mast -
If it remained below this mark, the higher fields failed in obtaining a due supply of water, and a dearth was the result.
— History of Egypt From 330 B.C. To the Present Time, Volume 10 (of 12) -
Their inappropriate costume quickly attracted attention, and became the subject of general conversation, and, such a dearth was there of excitement, Lord Spencer Hamilton aroused feverish interest by laying a wager that before the night was out he would have the two strangers walking arm in arm.
— Inns and Taverns of Old London -
Such a dearth was there of these latter articles, that anything, even a little child's story-book, or the half of a shipping calendar, seemed a treasure.
— Two Years Before the Mast - War, dearth, and death that all things ends? — England's Antiphon
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View all »Etymologies (4)
American Heritage Dictionary (1)
- Middle English derthe, from Old English *dēorthu, costliness, from dēore, costly; see dear1.
Century Dictionary (2)
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
WordNet
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Pronunciations
/ (dûrth)/
ahd pronounces "dearth"
by
American Heritage Dictionary