American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition - n. A failure to attain a specified amount or level; a
shortage. - n. The amount by which a supply falls short of
expectation, need, or demand. - n. An instance of not meeting a
quota or of having an insufficient amount. - n. The amount by
which a quota is missed; the amount missing. - n. the property
of being an amount by which something is less than expected or
required - From to fall short (Wiktionary) “Occasionally reform
opponents will say there's no crisis now, but there was then --
but the shortfall is actually bigger now.” “However, Basu and
other economists suggest that the majority of the shortfall is
because of the bad economy rather than the way Marylanders
reacted to the tax increase.” “The $8 billion shortfall is one
of the largest crises Ohio has ever faced.” “Scrapping the cap
on earnings subject to the payroll tax, while not counting
earnings above the cap toward benefits, would eliminate Social
Security's entire long-term