WordWeb Online

1. Deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand
   "fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought"

1. Only a very short time before
   "would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave";
   - barely, hardly, just, scarcely
    
2. Almost not
   "he was scarce sixteen years old";
   - hardly, scarcely, barely

Derived forms: scarcer, scarcest

See also: meager [N. Amer], meagerly [N. Amer], meagre [Brit, Cdn], meagrely [Brit, Cdn], quantity, rare, scrimpy, stingy [informal], tight

Antonym: abundant

Encyclopedia: Scarce, Michael