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scant

UK/skant/ US/skænt/ rare dated
adjective (1) verb (3)

adjective

1.

less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so

  • “a light pound”
  • “a scant cup of sugar”
  • “regularly gives short weight”
Synonyms
Similar

verb

1.
2.

limit in quality or quantity

Synonyms
3.

supply sparingly and with restricted quantities

  • “sting with the allowance”
Synonyms

Origin

Adjective and determiner from Middle English scant, from Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr (“short”), from Proto-Germanic *skammaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱem- (“mutilated, hornless”). Verb from Middle English scanten, from the adjective. Noun and adverb from Middle English scant, from the adjective.

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See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.