Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use surplus in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, adjective, verb

Surplus means that which remains when use or need is satisfied, or when a limit is reached; excess; overplus; overage. Example: “The latest shipment of goods is surplus to our needs.”

Examples of surplus by meaning

adjectiveBeing or constituting a surplus; more than sufficient.

  • The latest shipment of goods is surplus to our needs.
  • Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly)

More sentences with surplus

  • I explained enough for her to understand the issue: there wasn't enough of an economic surplus.From the entry enough
  • The judge was a supernumerary, helping the regular judges whenever there was a surplus amount of work.From the entry supernumerary
  • The government achieved a surplus budget by cutting defense spending and increasing tax revenues.From the entry surplus budget
  • It's just placing the biggest tariffs on the countries running the biggest trade surpluses.2025 April 3, Felix Salmon, “How to read the White House's tariff formula”, in Axios. From the entry reciprocate
  • These social supermarket examples usually restrict access with eligibility criteria and rely on surplus food supply.2024 January 29, “Praise for Australian 'social supermarket' model”, in Phys.org, archived from the original on 25 Apr 2024. From the entry social supermarket
  • Skinny Nigérien soldiers in surplus American Marine desert uniforms buzz around in Land Cruisers with spray-painted camouflage.2022 August 28, Kevin Maurer, “The Candy Maker, The Cop, and The Fireman Fighting America’s Shadow War”, in Rolling Stone, New York, N.Y.…. From the entry Nigérien
  • South Western Railway's Basingstoke station has donated surplus biohazard waste bags to the nearby St Michael's Hospice.2020 August 12, “News in Brief: Donation to hospice”, in Rail, page 31. From the entry biohazard
  • Countries with export surpluses foisted them off by bounties or placed them through unilateral agreements.2017, Broadus Mitchell, The Depression Decade, page 182. From the entry foist off
  • At first, Berlin tried to amend the agreement to restore a German trade surplus, but Rome refused.2016, Per Tiedtke, chapter 2, in Germany, Italy and the International Economy 1929–1936: Co-operation or Rivalries at Times of Crisis?…. From the entry Rome
  • The harvest was unexpectedly good this year, but the agricultural cooperative was unable to purchase their surplus.2000, Chen Shui-Bian, “Learning and Transformation”, in David J. Toman, transl., The Son of Taiwan: The Life of Chen Shui-Bian and His…. From the entry Changhua
  • China soon had enough oil to meet its needs, with surplus oil available for export.1994, Patrick Bridgemon, “Nixon Removes an Embargo on Trade with China”, in Frank N. Magill, editor, Great Events from History II, volume…. From the entry T'a-ch'eng
  • The dart at hem level creates shape for the calf of the leg and reduces surplus fabric.1991, Helen Stanley, Flat Pattern Cutting and Modelling for Fashion, page 162. From the entry underknee
  • DETECTIVES are probing a raid on a shop in High Street, Cleethorpes, which sells surplus armywear.1983 August 25, “Shop cash box stolen”, in Grimsby Evening Telegraph, page nine. From the entry armywear
  • There is a large surplus of labour in Tailu commune of Lianjiang County, Fujian Province.1981, Beijing Review, volume 24, →OCLC, page 17. From the entry Tailu
  • A particular problem is the disposal of small quantities of unwanted, surplus, or unused pesticides.1975 June, Edward W. Lawless, Thomas L. Ferguson, Alfred F. Meiners, “Introduction”, in Guidelines for the Disposal of Small Quantities of…. From the entry unused
  • Of the surplus the bulk was invested, and an oddment swept into the borough fund.1974, Francis Hill, chapter 3, in Victorian Lincoln, Cambridge University Press, page 48. From the entry oddment
  • An estimation of the wildberry crop surplus due to bees' pollination is very difficult.1969, International Apicultural Congress, page 434. From the entry wildberry
  • Soviet emphasis on high-yield weapons might give them a megaton surplus. . . .1963 April, Ralph E. Lapp, "The Strategy of Overkill," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, p. 10 (Google preview). From the entry short end of the stick
  • The centrifugal spin drier also removes surplus oil from filters which have been re-oiled.1960 January, “Diesel Conversion of Ipswich Motive Power Depot”, in Railway Magazine, page 53. From the entry re-oil
  • The Democrats make quite outrageous demands for still greater squanderation of farm surpluses.1956, Plurifarious Periodical Authors, LIFE Magazine - Volume 40 - Number 2, Published by Time Incorporated, page 28. From the entry squanderation
  • The kulaks distill it in tons from last year’s surplus harvest.1943, Anna Louise Strong, Wild River, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, page 72. From the entry samagon
  • The amount of lendability is fixed with regard to the bank's capital and surplus.1920, Arthur Fremont Rider, Business Digest and Investment Weekly, Volume 26, Issue 6. From the entry lendability
  • Millions of people were starving, while the oligarchs and their supporters were surfeiting on the surplus.1908 February 19, Jack London, chapter 17, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 251. From the entry surfeit
  • Whatever we drew the officer signed an indent for and we gave up a surplus.1906, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Parliamentary Papers: 1850-1908 - Volume 57. From the entry underdraw
  • She began looking beyond her own surplus to fund grants.2025 December 1, Leslie Kaufman, “How ‘Super Roofs’ Reward Insurers, Cat Bond Investors and Homeowners. Investors snapped up a catastrophe…. From the entry reinsurance
  • The result is a massive external surplus.2014 September 25, Michael Heise, “The Myth of the Stupid German Investor”, in The Wall Street Journal, archived from the original on 07…. From the entry Germany
  • There was no agricultural surplus for the Spanish to appropriate, and the mobility of the Querandí made them impossible to control.2011, Norman Henderson, Rediscovering the Prairies: Journeys by Dog, Horse, and Canoe, TouchWood Editions, →ISBN. From the entry Querandí
  • The Cold War was over, everyone was at peace, the U.S. was cruising along with a big surplus.2007, David S. Michaels, Daniel Brenton, Red Moon, →ISBN, page 55. From the entry fat and happy
  • According to the Democratic nominee, Bushonomics would "squander" the surplus.2000 August 18, Richard S. Dunham, “Battlin' Al Comes Out Swinging”, in Business Week. From the entry Bushonomics
  • The term "easy, small and nearby" refers to the regulation of surpluses and the replenishment of shortages within the region first.[1984 May 1 [1983 November], Xiao Sanwu [5135 0005 0063] [肖三五], “An Inquiry into Questions of Developing Water Conservation in the…. From the entry Irtysh
  • Surplus will then be extracted through profit repatriation, royalty, and patentcy arrangements, and through accounting mechanisms within the corporation.1981, Alan Gilbert, Josef Gugler, Cities, Poverty, and Development: Urbanization in the Third World, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford…. From the entry patentcy
  • Actually they planted so much that there was a surplus.1978 February, Rewi Alley, “The Epic of Chumatien”, in Eastern Horizon, volume XVII, number 2, Hong Kong: Eastern Horizon Press, →ISSN…. From the entry Suiping
  • In achieving an agricultural surplus, Szechwan 's leaders won a reputation for astutely applying mechanical innovation, work incentives, and technical training.1971, The Cultural Revolution in the Provinces, Harvard University Press, page 8. From the entry Szechwan
  • It is well-known that we cannot carry this surplus over.1965, Legislative Record, page 578. From the entry oneshot
  • "And are you an artist, too?" inquired Bunson's companion, prepared to let a little surplus enthusiasm loose on the MacQuibble.1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 101. From the entry apocryphally
  • Surplus revenues from the Matsu Liquor Factory account for around 45 percent of the money raised directly by the Lienchiang County government every year.2017 March 20, 3:32 from the start, in Makers of Matsu’s unique kaoliang liquor look to tap into foreign markets, Formosa Television. From the entry Lienchiang
  • Do you know I have a bar chart on my desk that correlates your self-esteem to the surplus value of an anime love pillow?2016, Hypersphere, →ISBN, page 455. From the entry love pillow
  • And if the rich succeed in using the surplus, they would also be the first harmers because the poor are thereby made worse off.2013, James P. Sterba, From Rationality to Equality, page 180. From the entry harmer

Meaning of surplus

  1. noun That which remains when use or need is satisfied, or when a limit is reached; excess; overplus; overage.
  2. noun Specifically, an amount in the public treasury at any time greater than is required for the ordinary purposes of the government.
  3. noun The remainder of a fund appropriated for a particular purpose.

Full definition of surplus

Questions about surplus in a sentence

How do you use surplus in a sentence?
Surplus is used as a noun, adjective and verb. For example: “The latest shipment of goods is surplus to our needs.”
What is a short sentence with surplus?
“The result is a massive external surplus.”
What does surplus mean?
Surplus means that which remains when use or need is satisfied, or when a limit is reached; excess; overplus; overage.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: surplus (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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