dearth

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A scarce supply; a lack: "the dearth of uncensored, firsthand information about the war” ( Richard Zoglin).
2. n. Shortage of food; famine.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Dearness; costliness; high price.
2. n. A condition of dearness or costliness from scarcity; hence, failure of production or supply; famine from failure or loss of crops.
3. n. Absence; lack; barrenness; poverty: as, a dearth of love; a dearth of honest men.
4. n. Synonyms Famine, etc. See scarcity.
5. To cause a dearth or scarcity in; hence, to raise the price of.

Wiktionary

1. n. this sense?) A period or condition when food is rare and hence expensive; famine.
2. n. Scarcity; a lack or short supply.
3. n. Dearness; the quality of being rare or costly.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. Scarcity which renders dear; want; lack; specifically, lack of food on account of failure of crops; famine.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an acute insufficiency
2. n. an insufficient quantity or number