A desperate shortage of iron and transport within the Confederacy made this move impossible.

But one cold winter there was a desperate shortage of slaves, and prices went through the roof.

Food was in desperate shortage, and production fell dramatically.

Realizing his army's desperate shortage of gunpowder, Washington asked for new sources.

He met with little success, however, owing to a desperate shortage of funds to pay his troops.

But the plan, hampered in part by the government's desperate shortage of money, has yet to move off the drawing board.

Divorce procedures are often complicated by social problems, like the desperate shortage of housing in Chinese cities.

But in Hanoi and several other cities, there is a desperate shortage of hotel rooms.

But as they soon realized, there was a desperate shortage of bread.

While toy sales here have hit a record high they face a desperate shortage of clean water.