scarce

«scarce» in Mova's school dictionary: not enough of something, or very little is available:… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (scarce, scarcer, scarcest); adverb (scarcely)

meaning for a pupil

1) Scarce means there is not enough of something, or very little is available: «Water is scarce in the desert.» tree →

2) Scarce means rare and hard to find. tree →

3) «Make yourself scarce» means go away quickly or keep out of the way. tree →

4) Scarce can also mean hardly or only just, as in 'I could scarce see'. tree →

sense in the lessons

In geography and science lessons, resources like water, food or habitat become scarce in droughts and deserts; animals migrate when food is scarce. In money and maths lessons, scarce things often cost more. Phrases: «food is scarce», «make yourself scarce», «scarce resources».

examples

• Food was scarce during the long winter. tree →
• Water is scarce in the desert, so camels store fat. tree →
• Good seats are scarce, so come early. tree →
• When the teacher got angry, we made ourselves scarce. tree →
• This rare stamp is very scarce. tree →
• Fresh fruit was scarce on the old sailing ships. tree →
• They scarce dared to speak or turn their heads. tree →

note

Comparative: «scarcer», «scarcest». Noun: «scarcity». «Scarcely» means «hardly, almost not» («I could scarcely see»). Opposite: «plentiful», «abundant».

In the corpora

• When something is scarce, so there is little of it, and many people want it, its price usually rises.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «scarce» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.