What does scarce mean?

Definitions for scarce
skɛərsscarce

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word scarce.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. scarceadverb

    deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand

    "fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought"

  2. barely, hardly, just, scarcely, scarceadverb

    only a very short time before

    "they could barely hear the speaker"; "we hardly knew them"; "just missed being hit"; "had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open"; "would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave"- W.B.Yeats

Wiktionary

  1. scarceadverb

    Scarcely, only just.

  2. scarceadjective

    Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand.

  3. Etymology: From Northern scars, escars (> French échars), from *, probably originally a participle form of *, from ex- + carpere.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. SCARCEadjective

    Etymology: scarso, Italian; schaers, Dutch.

    A Swede will no more sell you his hemp for less silver, because you tell him silver is scarcer now in England, and therefore risen one fifth in value, than a tradesman of London will sell his commodity cheaper to the Isle of Man, because money is scarce there. John Locke.

    The scarcest of all is a Pescennius Niger on a medallion well preserved. Addison.

  2. Scarce, Scarcelyadverb

    Etymology: from the adjective.

    A thing which we so little hoped to see, that even they which beheld it done scarcely believed their own senses. Richard Hooker.

    When we our betters see bearing our woes,
    We scarcely think our miseries our foes. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

    Age, which unavoidably is but one remove from death, and consequently should have nothing about it but what looks like a decent preparation for it, scarce ever appears, of late days, but in the high mode, the flaunting garb, and utmost gaudery of youth. South.

    You neither have enemies, nor can scarce have any. Dryd.

    He scarcely knew him, striving to disown
    His blotted form, and blushing to be known. Dryden.

    Slowly he fails, and scarcely stems the tides;
    The pressing water pours within her sides. Dryden.

ChatGPT

  1. scarce

    Scarcity refers to a situation where the availability of a resource or commodity is limited or insufficient to meet the wants and needs of individuals or society as a whole. It is a fundamental economic concept that recognizes that resources are finite, while human desires and needs are infinite. In a scarce situation, there is a mismatch between the available supply of a resource and the demand or desire for it. As a result, choices and trade-offs are necessary to allocate resources effectively and efficiently.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Scarce

    not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon

  2. Scarce

    scantily supplied (with); deficient (in); -- with of

  3. Scarce

    sparing; frugal; parsimonious; stingy

  4. Scarceadverb

    alt. of Scarcely

Wikidata

  1. Scarce

    Scarce is an Alternative rock band formed in Rhode Island, New York, USA. They were active from 1993 to 1997, and reformed in 2008.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Scarce

    skārs, adj. not plentiful: not equal to the demand: rare: not common: parsimonious: deficient: short: scanty.—adj. Scarce′-beard′ed (Shak.), having a scanty beard.—adv. Scarce′ly, Scarce (B.), hardly, barely.—ns. Scarce′ment (archit.), a plain set-off or projection in a wall; Scarce′ness; Scarc′ity, state of being scarce: deficiency: rareness: niggardliness: want: famine.—Make one's self scarce, to decamp. [O. Fr. escars (Fr. échars), niggardly—Low L. scarpsus=ex-carpsus, for L. excerptus, pa.p. of excerpēreex, out of, carpēre, to pick.]

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. SCARCE

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Scarce is ranked #72105 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Scarce surname appeared 270 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Scarce.

    93.7% or 253 total occurrences were White.
    2.2% or 6 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    1.8% or 5 total occurrences were of two or more races.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of scarce in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of scarce in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of scarce in a Sentence

  1. Everett Millman:

    There was going to be a backlog in the silver bullion supply chain that rendered Silver Eagles more scarce either way.

  2. Mohamed Anyis:

    We shared scarce food rations and helped the weakest men together.

  3. Joachim Blatter:

    It is important for Swiss business to know what will happen with immigration and the pool of labor. For Switzerland, like many other countries, skilled labor will become scarce in the years ahead.

  4. Adam Bulama:

    Now meat is scarce in Maiduguri, nobody can afford it.

  5. Zhao Yang:

    Compared with Guangdong, where our fabric mill sites are, Xinjiang's water is very scarce.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

scarce#10000#15777#100000

Translations for scarce

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"scarce." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/scarce>.

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