Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Dearth

Dearth , noun

[Old English derthe, from dere. See Dear.]

Scarcity which renders dear; want; lack; specifically, lack of food on account of failure of crops; famine.
There came a dearth over all the land of Egypt. — Acts vii. 11
He with her press'd, she faint with dearth. — Shakespeare
Dearth of plot, and narrowness of imagination. — Dryden