Money & budgets
deficit
The gap in a single year between what the government spends and what it collects. A surplus is the reverse. Debt is the accumulation of past deficits.
In full
Deficit is a flow, debt is a stock, and conflating them is the most common error in budget coverage. The deficit is usually reported for the fiscal year and compared to the size of the economy, since a given dollar figure means something different in a larger economy. Borrowing covers the gap, which is what adds to the debt.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.