scant
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /skænt/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ænt
Etymology 1
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”).
Adjective
scant (comparative scanter, superlative scantest)
- Very little, very few.
- After his previous escapades, Mary had scant reason to believe John.
- Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; scanty; meager; not enough.
- a scant allowance of provisions or water; a scant pattern of cloth for a garment
- (Can we date this quote?) Ridley
- His sermon was scant, in all, a quarter of an hour.
- Sparing; parsimonious; chary.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
- Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
very little
Etymology 2
From Middle English scanten, from the adjective (see above).
Verb
scant (third-person singular simple present scants, present participle scanting, simple past and past participle scanted)
- (transitive) To limit in amount or share; to stint.
- to scant someone in provisions; to scant ourselves in the use of necessaries
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
- Scant not my cups.
- (Can we date this quote?) Francis Bacon
- where man hath a great living laid together and where he is scanted
- (Can we date this quote?) Dryden
- I am scanted in the pleasure of dwelling on your actions.
- (intransitive) To fail, or become less; to scantle.
- The wind scants.
Etymology 3
From Middle English scant, from the adjective (see above).
Noun
scant (plural scants)
- (masonry) A block of stone sawn on two sides down to the bed level.
- (masonry) A sheet of stone.
- (wood) A slightly thinner measurement of a standard wood size.
Quotations
- For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:scant.
Etymology 4
From Middle English scant, from the adjective (see above).
Adverb
scant (not comparable)
- With difficulty; scarcely; hardly.
- (Can we date this quote?) Fuller
- So weak that he was scant able to go down the stairs.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)
- (Can we date this quote?) Fuller
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