Scant — Defs

01 a. Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; less than is wanted for the purpose; scanty; meager; not enough; as, a scant allowance …

1.
Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; less than is wanted for the purpose; scanty; meager; not enough; as, a scant allowance of provisions or water; a scant pattern of cloth for a garment.
“His sermon was scant, in all, a quarter of an hour.” — Ridley.
2.
Sparing; parsimonious; chary.
“Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence.” — Shak.

Syn. See under Scanty.

02 v. t. To limit; to straiten; to treat illiberally; to stint; as, to scant one in provisions; to scant ourselves in the use of necessaries.

imp. & p. p. Scanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Scanting

1.
To limit; to straiten; to treat illiberally; to stint; as, to scant one in provisions; to scant ourselves in the use of necessaries.
“Where a man hath a great living laid together and where he is scanted.” — Bacon.

“I am scanted in the pleasure of dwelling on your actions.” — Dryden.
2.
To cut short; to make small, narrow, or scanty; to curtail.

03 v. i. To fail, or become less; to scantle; as, the wind scants.

04 adv. In a scant manner; with difficulty; scarcely; hardly.

1.
In a scant manner; with difficulty; scarcely; hardly.[Obs.]
“So weak that he was scant able to go down the stairs.” — Fuller.

05 n. Scantness; scarcity.