A situation in hand typesetting where the copy requires an unusually high number of a specific character, draining the compositor's supply of that sort. Printing an index, a specialized glossary, or a text with many foreign words can quickly empty the compartments for certain letters, forcing the typesetter to halt work or borrow from another case.
Heard on the job
Setting this algebra textbook is a heavy run upon sorts for the italic x.
Insider tip
This printing dilemma is the origin of the phrase 'out of sorts', meaning frustrated or depleted.