Due to loss, was short of tea (5)

I believe the answer is:

waste

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'due to loss' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'was short of tea' is the wordplay.
'short of' means to remove the last letter (I've seen 'short' mean this).
'tea' with its last letter taken off is 'te'.
'was'+'te'='WASTE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for waste that I've seen before include "Use inefficiently or inappropriately" , "desert" , "Useless leftovers" , "Not use effectively" , "Rubbish, barren land" .)

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