SURPLUS • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Surplus

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/sˈərpləs/ Listen

noun

Surplus n.

That which remains when use or need is satisfied, or when a limit is reached; excess; overplus.

Specifically, an amount in the public treasury at any time greater than is required for the ordinary purposes of the government.

adjective

Surplus adj. Being or constituting a surplus; more than sufficient; as, surplus revenues; surplus population; surplus words. "When the price of corn falleth, men give over surplus tillage, and break no more ground."

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Etymology of 'Surplus'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Surplus" Quotes from Famous Books

... led the horses in front of the retinue. Zbyszko himself carried the litter upon his head, and the women loaded with the surplus of the bunches of flowers and herbs, sang hymns. They moved very slowly along the herb-covered meadows and the grey fallow fields and had the appearance of a funeral procession. Not a cloudlet marred the blue clear sky, and the region warmed itself in ...

— The Knights of the Cross • Henryk Sienkiewicz

... late vexed the plantations for many miles around. The planter seized the occasion to direct his good-natured fire of raillery at the mistress, accusing her of encouraging the plague. "They swarm up and down the river every winter," he said. "They overrun New Orleans, and we catch the surplus, which is generally the worst part. And, a day or two ago, Madame New Orleans, suddenly discovering that she can't go shopping without brushing her skirts against great rows of the vagabonds sunning themselves on the banquettes, says to the police: 'Catch 'em all,' and ...

— Roads of Destiny • O. Henry

... Their surplus profits the munition makers invested sometimes in newspapers. It was proved in the German Reichstag in 1913 that the great gun-makers of Prussia had a force of hired newspaper writers to keep up threats of war. They paid certain papers in Paris ...

— The World War and What was Behind It - The Story of the Map of Europe • Louis P. Benezet

... by the different masters, and the quart of salt monthly. Several plantations near Beaufort which had been stripped of their corn by the army have been referred to me for supplies. I have loaded three flat-boats from the corn-barns here and at Coffin's, where there was a surplus, sending off 285 bushels shelled corn in all. The removal of this corn from my barns gave occasion for some loud and boisterous talking on the part of some of the women, and made the driver of this plantation feel very sober, but ...

— Letters from Port Royal - Written at the Time of the Civil War (1862-1868) • Various

... Dale's purpose to develop an agricultural colony. Surplus from food products would not pay the cost of shipment across the ocean. His plantings of corn were purely for local consumption. He limited the number engaged in farming, and to each of those so engaged, ...

— Agriculture in Virginia, 1607-1699 • Lyman Carrier

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