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Definition of "scant" []

  • Barely sufficient: paid scant attention to the lecture. (adjective)
  • Falling short of a specific measure: a scant cup of sugar. (adjective)
  • Inadequately supplied; short: We were scant of breath after the lengthy climb. (adjective)
  • To give an inadequate portion or allowance to: had to scant the older children in order to nourish the newborn. (verb-transitive)
  • To limit, as in amount or share; stint: Our leisure time is scanted by this demanding job. (verb-transitive)

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.

Use "scant" in a sentence
  • "Apple refuses to use Ogg Theora in Safari because of what it calls scant hardware support and an "uncertain patent landscape.""
  • "But scant is robust evidence at early developmental stages for a lower dN/dS ratio."
  • "They've been around since before World War II, but their use on sporting rifles has always been limited to custom guns, and then in scant numbers."