Drought
Drought (drout) , noun
[Old English droght, drougth, druye, Anglo-Saxon drugae, from drugian to dry. See Dry, and compare 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.
The drought of March hath pierced to the root.
In a drought the thirsty creatures cry.
2.
Thirst; want of drink. — Johnson
3.
Scarcity; lack.
A drought of Christian writers caused a dearth of all history.