drought
    n 1: a shortage of rainfall; "farmers most affected by the
         drought hope that there may yet be sufficient rain early in
         the growing season" [syn: drought, drouth]
    2: a prolonged shortage; "when England defeated Pakistan it
       ended a ten-year drought" [syn: drought, drouth]

Drought \Drought\ (drout), n. [OE. droght, drougth,
   dru[yogh][eth], AS. druga[eth], from drugian to dry. See
   Dry, and cf. Drouth, which shows the original final
   sound.]
   1. Dryness; want of rain or of water; especially, such
      dryness of the weather as affects the earth, and prevents
      the growth of plants; aridity.
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            The drought of March hath pierced to the root.
                                                  --Chaucer.
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            In a drought the thirsty creatures cry. --Dryden.
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   2. Thirst; want of drink. --Johnson.
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   3. Scarcity; lack.
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            A drought of Christian writers caused a dearth of
            all history.                          --Fuller.
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Drought
   From the middle of May to about the middle of August the land of
   Palestine is dry. It is then the "drought of summer" (Gen.
   31:40; Ps. 32:4), and the land suffers (Deut. 28:23: Ps. 102:4),
   vegetation being preserved only by the dews (Hag. 1:11). (See DEW.)