Thesaurus: scant

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1. superl. 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.
2. superl. Sparing; parsimonious; chary.
3. 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.
4. v. t. To cut short; to make small, narrow, or scanty; to curtail.
5. v. i. To fail, or become less; to scantle; as, the wind scants.
6. adv. In a scant manner; with difficulty; scarcely; hardly.
7. n. Scantness; scarcity.
8. adj. less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so
9. v. work hastily or carelessly; deal with inadequately and superficially
10. v. limit in quality or quantity
11. v. supply sparingly and with restricted quantities
12. 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. 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 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. "Scant not my cups." Shak. To fail, of become less; to scantle; as, the wind scants. In a scant manner; with difficulty; scarcely; hardly. [Obs.] Bacon. So weak that he was scant able to go down the stairs. Fuller. Scantness; scarcity. [R.] T. Carew.