Enter a clue or pattern or both:
The Clue
Surplus's opposite (7 letter answer)
The Answer
DEFICIT
Tags
Notes
The answer DEFICIT is so rare that it appears less than once every 2500 puzzles.
Related Clues
Shortage
Perennial government concern
Definition
DEFICIT as a noun:
1. (deficit, shortage, shortfall) = the property of being an amount by which something is less than expected or required; "new blood vessels bud out from the already dilated vascular bed to make up the nutritional deficit"
2. a deficiency or failure in neurological or mental functioning; "the people concerned have a deficit in verbal memory"; "they have serious linguistic deficits"
3. (sports) the score by which a team or individual is losing
4. an excess of liabilities over assets (usually over a certain period); "last year there was a serious budgetary deficit"