• IPA: /skænt/

scant (comparative scanter, superlative scantest)

1. Very little, very few.

   After his previous escapades, Mary had scant reason to believe John.

2. 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

   • His sermon was scant, in all, a quarter of an hour.

3. Sparing; parsimonious; chary.
   • c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene iii]:

     Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence.

• (very little, few) few, little, slight
• (rare, scarce) geason; see also Thesaurus:rare

• (very little, few) ample, plenty

• scantily

• French: insuffisant, rare, maigre
• German: spärlich, gering, dürftig, knapp, kaum
• Italian: scarso, esiguo
• Portuguese: escasso
• Russian: недоста́точный
• Spanish: exiguo

• Spanish: escaso, magro

scant (scants, present participle scanting; past and past participle scanted)

1. (transitive) To limit in amount or share; to stint.

   to scant someone in provisions; to scant ourselves in the use of necessaries

   • c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     Scant not my cups.

   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Building

     where man hath a great living laid together and where he is scanted

   • I am scanted in the pleasure of dwelling on your actions.

2. (intransitive) To fail, or become less; to scantle.

   The wind scants.

scant (plural scants)

1. (masonry) A block of stone sawn on two sides down to the bed level.
2. (masonry) A sheet of stone.
3. (wood) A slightly thinner measurement of a standard wood size.

scant (not comparable)

1. With difficulty; scarcely; hardly.

   • So weak that he was scant able to go down the stairs.

scant

1. Scarcity; lack.