How to Use deficit in a Sentence

deficit

noun
  • The team overcame a four-point deficit to win the game.
  • She has a slight hearing deficit in her left ear.
  • We will reduce the federal budget deficit.
  • The government is facing a deficit of $3 billion.
  • The state faces a huge deficit.
    — Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
  • But that deficit didn’t last long.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The homer pushed the deficit to five runs again.
    — Kansas City Star, 21 June 2026
  • Hold the deficit, hold the lead kind of guys.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026
  • Had a deficit there in the third quarter.
    — Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2026
  • This is the biggest deficit for us.
    — CBS News, 31 May 2026
  • Porter knocked down back-to-back 3s to cut the deficit to eight.
    — C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2026
  • But the Dodgers started to chip away at the deficit.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2025
  • Utah came back to cut the deficit to one at the end of the third quarter.
    — Jason Anderson, Sacbee.com, 16 Mar. 2026
  • One is the actual size of the deficit.
    — Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2025
  • No team has ever overcome a deficit that large.
    — Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2025
  • The deficit is already on a troubling path this year.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 17 May 2026
  • The deficit is already on a troubling path this year.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 15 May 2026
  • The Red Raiders erase a 21-point deficit.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2026
  • So this is a problem for them, the deficit of people.
    — CBS News, 31 May 2026
  • What is called weakness of will is not a deficit but a surplus.
    — Meghan O’Gieblyn, Harpers Magazine, 30 June 2026
  • Xavier came back from a 13-point deficit in the first half to pull off the win.
    — Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 20 Mar. 2025
  • The cuts simply grew the deficit instead.
    — Jared Bernstein, The Atlantic, 25 May 2026
  • What was already bad — a touchdown deficit — got worse.
    — Cody Thorn, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Sep. 2025
  • And still, the city faces over $1 billion of deficits over the next five years.
    — U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Sep. 2025
  • And for those who care (not everyone does), the deficit’s gone down.
    — Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 13 May 2022
  • Spatz’s single drove in two to cut the deficit to 10-8.
    — Darren Sabedra, Mercury News, 15 May 2026
  • That cut the Sixers' deficit to 23 points.
    — CBS News, 26 Apr. 2026
  • And deficits are going to be with state government for years to come.
    — The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 21 Oct. 2025
  • If every country in the world had a surplus, who would have the deficit?
    — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 13 Mar. 2025
  • Two early home runs brought the Padres back from a big early deficit.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'deficit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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