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scarce - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'scarce' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Scarce [ adv.]
- Alt. of Scarcely
2 . Scarce [ superl.]
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon.
- Scantily supplied (with); deficient (in); -- with of.
- Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; stingy.

Meaning of 'scarce' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . scarce [ a]
Meaning (1):
- deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand
Example in sentence:
  • fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought
2 . scarce [ r]
Meaning (2):
- only a very short time before
Example in sentence:
  • had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open;
  • we hardly knew them;
  • would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave
Meaning (3):
- almost not
Example in sentence:
  • he hardly ever goes fishing;
  • he was scarce sixteen years old;
  • I can hardly hear what she is saying;
  • she barely seemed to notice him;
  • they scarcely ever used the emergency generator;
  • we were so far back in the theater, we could barely read the subtitles

Nearby Words:

scab scabbard scabbard plane scabbed scabbedness scabbily scabbiness scabbing scabble scabby

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