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scant

[skant]
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adjective, scant·er, scant·est.
  1. barely sufficient in amount or quantity; not abundant; almost inadequate: to do scant justice.
  2. limited; meager; not large: a scant amount.
  3. barely amounting to as much as indicated: a scant two hours; a scant cupful.
  4. having an inadequate or limited supply (usually followed by of): scant of breath.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to make scant; diminish.
  2. to stint the supply of; withhold.
  3. to treat slightly or inadequately.
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adverb
  1. Scot. and North England Dialect. scarcely; barely; hardly.
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Origin of scant

1325–75; Middle English (adj.) < Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr short
Related formsscant·ly, adverbscant·ness, noun

Synonyms

See more synonyms for scant on Thesaurus.com
2. scanty, small, restricted. 4. short, lacking, wanting, deficient. 5. lessen, reduce, decrease, curtail. 6. limit, restrict, skimp, scrimp. 7. slight, neglect.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for scant

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The sky was now clear, the air frosty, and my rags were but a scant protection to me.

    Biography of a Slave

    Charles Thompson

  • Of Rouquet's activities as an artist in England there are scant particulars.

  • He appears to have grown fat and scant of breath when he was about thirty-six or seven.

  • After the first day of the siege there was scant leisure for funeral rites.

  • The meat was little better than the bread in quality, and quite as scant in quantity.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for scant

scant

adjective
  1. scarcely sufficient; limitedhe paid her scant attention
  2. (prenominal) slightly short of the amount indicated; barea scant ten inches
  3. (postpositive foll by of) having a short supply (of)
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verb (tr)
  1. to limit in size or quantity
  2. to provide with a limited or inadequate supply of
  3. to treat in a slighting or inadequate manner
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adverb
  1. scarcely; barely
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Derived Formsscantly, adverbscantness, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Old Norse skamt, from skammr /short; related to Old High German scam
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scant

adj.

mid-14c., from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr "short, brief"), from Proto-Germanic *skamma- (cf. Old English scamm "short," Old High German skemmen "to shorten"), perhaps ultimately "hornless," from PIE *kem- (see hind (n.)). Also in Middle English as a noun, "scant supply, scarcity," from Old Norse. As a verb and adverb from mid-15c.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper