1. (noun) an acute insufficiency

• dearth
• shortage

1. (noun) an acute insufficiency

• deficiency
• lack
• want

2. (noun) a severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death

• calamity
• cataclysm
• catastrophe
• disaster
• tragedy

1. (noun) a severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death

• the great calamity
• the great hunger
• the great starvation
• the irish famine