deficit (redirected from Government deficit)

A deficiency, misappropriation, or defalcation; a minus balance; something wanting.

Deficit is commonly used to mean any kind of shortage, as in an account, a number, or a balance due. Deficit spending or financing involves taking in less money than the amount that is paid out.

Cross-references

Federal Budget.

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deficit n. a shortage, less than is due, or in the case of a business or government budget, more expenditures than income. Unbalanced budgets with a planned year-end deficit are prohibited at every level of government except the federal.

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deficit noun absence, arrears, balance to pay, dearth, default, deficiency, financial shortage, inadequacy, insufficiency, lack, loss, meagerness, omission, overdraft, paucity, scantiness, scarcity, shortage, shortness

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See also: arrears, debt, decrement, deficiency, delinquency, due, insufficiency, need, poverty

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DEFICIT. This Latin term signifies that something is wanting. It is used to express the deficiency which is discovered in the accounts of an accountant, or in the money in which he has received.