outages
Grid failures, basically
Outages is the plural of outage—periods when something that normally operates continuously stops working.
Power outages leave homes dark.
Service outages take websites offline.
The word implies temporary interruption rather than permanent failure: Rolling outages affected the city during the heat wave.
We experienced several internet outages last month.
Period of non-operation
- malfunctionFailure to operate properly
- failureLack of success
- breakdownFailure or decomposition
- crashSudden violent impact
disturbance · chaos · collapse · upheaval · turmoil · derailment · setback · snag
Total absence of light
- powerlessLacking strength or authority
- unlitNot burning or glowing
- candlelightLuminescence from burning wick
- flashlightsPortable battery-powered lamps
generators · emergency · grid · rolling · scheduled · widespread · prolonged · citywide
Complete sudden stop
- stoppageInterruption of flow
- cessationA full stopping
- pauseTemporary cessation of activity
- suspensionTemporary halt or exclusion
gap · intermittent · temporary · brief · momentary · sporadic · unexpected · unplanned
Insufficiency of something needed
- insufficiencyShortfall in amount needed
- lackDeficiency or absence
- shortfallFailure to reach quota
- deficitAmount still owed
undersupply · depletion · unavailability · demand · capacity · supply · rationing · allocation
downtime
Period of non-operation
- malfunctionFailure to operate properly
- failureLack of success
- breakdownFailure or decomposition
crash · disturbance · chaos · collapse · upheaval · turmoil · derailment · setback · snag · anomaly
darkness
Total absence of light
- powerlessLacking strength or authority
- unlitNot burning or glowing
- candlelightLuminescence from burning wick
flashlights · generators · emergency · grid · rolling · scheduled · widespread · prolonged · citywide · regional
halt
Complete sudden stop
suspension · gap · intermittent · temporary · brief · momentary · sporadic · unexpected · unplanned · sudden
scarcity
Insufficiency of something needed
- insufficiencyShortfall in amount needed
- lackDeficiency or absence
- shortfallFailure to reach quota
deficit · undersupply · depletion · unavailability · demand · capacity · supply · rationing · allocation · conservation
- utilitieselectricity, water supply, public utilities, water line, gas service
- IT supporthelpdesk, tech support, IT support, technical assistance, help desk
- telecom operationsnetwork management, phone lines, switchboards, performance management, network security
- electricityelectricity, battery, batteries, wire, wires
- business problemscash flow, hiring, staffing, payroll, expenses
- signal problemsbad connection, dead zone, dead zones, dropped calls, no signal
outagesuptime
Continuous operational period
service · availability · connectivity · restoration · operation
outagessurges
Abrupt powerful rises
power surges · spikes · overloads · excess capacity · oversupply
- power outageLoss of electrical supply