Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A quantity or portion of something lacking after delivery or storage.
  • noun A temporary suspension of operation, especially of electric power.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In electricity, the failure of an arc-lamp, in a series arc-circuit, to start when current is sent into the circuit.
  • noun A charge made by the State of Maryland for the labor of handling tobacco inspected for export.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A temporary suspension of operation, especially of electrical power supply
  • noun The amount of something lost in storage or transportation

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a temporary suspension of operation (as of computers)
  • noun the amount of something (as whiskey or oil) lost in storage or transportation

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From out +‎ -age, on the model of shortage.

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