scant

Meanings

1. Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; scanty; meager.
2. Sparing; parsimonious; chary.
3. Slightly diminished; just short of the amount described.

1. To limit in amount or share; to stint.
2. To fail, or become less; to scantle.

1. Very little, very few.

1. A small piece or quantity.
2. Scarcity; lack.
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. With difficulty; scarcely; hardly.

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.