rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryscantBarely enough
adjective / verb

scant

SKANT/skænt/

Being or providing barely enough or less than needed.

The few beans and tiny piece of bread make a scant meal.

A diner faces a plainly inadequate meal: only a few beans and a tiny piece of bread on a full-sized dinner plate, with the emptied cooking pot tilted beside it.
Etymology
scantOld Norseshort, brief

A Scandinavian word such as Old Norse skammr, “short,” supplies the idea of falling short in quantity. Scant describes an amount that barely meets a need or does not meet it.

In context

Oculus Imperia16:21
the average terran living space a scant single room the average terran meal a flavorless nutrient paste or corp starch extreme poverty extreme malnutrition
The Hexarchy Crisis: High Lords vs The Primarch (Warhammer 40K Lore)

More examples

  • They survived on scant rations.
  • Do not scant the time needed for preparation.
  • The report scanted the contribution of local volunteers.

Forms

scant · scants · scanted · scanting · scanter · scantest

scanty adjective — insufficient or very small

Similar words

meager
Both suggest too little; scant can mean barely sufficient as well as inadequate.
scarce
Scarce means hard to find or limited in supply; scant emphasizes the amount provided or present.