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Scant
Definitions
- 1 Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; scanty; meager.
"a scant allowance of provisions or water; a scant pattern of cloth for a garment"
- 2 Sparing; parsimonious; chary.
"Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence."
- 3 Slightly diminished; just short of the amount described.
"a scant cup of sugar"
- 1 less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so wordnet
- 1 With difficulty; scarcely; hardly. dated, not-comparable, uncommon
"[A]ske a Stoicke vvhich Philoſophy is true, he vvil preferre his ovvne. Then aske him vvhich approacheth next the truth, he vvill confeſſe the Academiques. So deale vvith the Epicure, that vvill ſcant indure the Stoicke to be in ſight of him, ſo ſoone as he hath placed himſelfe, he vvill place the Academiques next him."
- 1 Very little, very few.
"After his previous escapades, Mary had scant reason to believe John."
- 1 A small piece or quantity.
"A blonde appeared from the officers' room, wearing a scant of material that passed for issued undergarments."
- 2 Scarcity; lack. uncommon
"As soon as the corpse was placed on the pile, and some prayers muttered by the attendant Bramin, fire was set to it at one of the corners, and the wood being dry, and in great quantity, it soon blazed up and consumed the body to ashes, without any noisome smell, such as however does not unfrequently happen if there is a scant of wood, or rain intervenes to damp it."
- 3 A block of stone sawn on two sides down to the bed level.
- 4 A sheet of stone.
- 5 A slightly thinner measurement of a standard wood size.
- 1 To limit in amount or share; to stint. transitive
"to scant someone in provisions; to scant ourselves in the use of necessaries"
- 2 supply sparingly and with restricted quantities wordnet
- 3 To fail, or become less; to scantle. intransitive
"The wind scants."
- 4 limit in quality or quantity wordnet
- 5 work hastily or carelessly; deal with inadequately and superficially wordnet
Etymology
Adjective and determiner from Middle English scant, from Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr (“short”), from Proto-Germanic *skammaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱem- (“mutilated, hornless”). Verb from Middle English scanten, from the adjective. Noun and adverb from Middle English scant, from the adjective.
Adjective and determiner from Middle English scant, from Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr (“short”), from Proto-Germanic *skammaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱem- (“mutilated, hornless”). Verb from Middle English scanten, from the adjective. Noun and adverb from Middle English scant, from the adjective.
Adjective and determiner from Middle English scant, from Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr (“short”), from Proto-Germanic *skammaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱem- (“mutilated, hornless”). Verb from Middle English scanten, from the adjective. Noun and adverb from Middle English scant, from the adjective.
Adjective and determiner from Middle English scant, from Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr (“short”), from Proto-Germanic *skammaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱem- (“mutilated, hornless”). Verb from Middle English scanten, from the adjective. Noun and adverb from Middle English scant, from the adjective.
Adjective and determiner from Middle English scant, from Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr (“short”), from Proto-Germanic *skammaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱem- (“mutilated, hornless”). Verb from Middle English scanten, from the adjective. Noun and adverb from Middle English scant, from the adjective.
See also for "scant"
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