Definition of "scantling" [scant•ling]

• A very small amount; a modicum. (noun)
• A small timber used in construction. (noun)
• The dimensions of a building material, especially the width and thickness of a timber. (noun)
• Nautical The dimensions of the structural parts of a vessel. Often used in the plural. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Of learning long a scantling was the portion of the Gael, vol. v.,"
• "Of learning long a scantling was the portion of the Gael,"
• "On the inside of the door the figures 52 had been traced with a couple of strokes of a brush dipped in ink, and above the scantling the same hand had daubed the number 50, so that one hesitated."