In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
SCANT
light, scant, short
(adjective) less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so; “a light pound”; “a scant cup of sugar”; “regularly gives short weight”
stint, skimp, scant
(verb) supply sparingly and with restricted quantities; “stint with the allowance”
scant, skimp
(verb) limit in quality or quantity
skimp, scant
(verb) work hastily or carelessly; deal with inadequately and superficially
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Adjective
scant (comparative scanter, superlative scantest)
Very little, very few.
Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; scanty; meager; not enough.
Sparing; parsimonious; chary.
Synonyms
• (very little, few): few, little, slight
• (rare, scarce): geason; see also rare
Antonyms
• (very little, few): ample, plenty
Etymology 2
Verb
scant (third-person singular simple present scants, present participle scanting, simple past and past participle scanted)
(transitive) To limit in amount or share; to stint.
(intransitive) To fail, or become less; to scantle.
Etymology 3
Noun
scant (plural scants)
(masonry) A block of stone sawn on two sides down to the bed level.
(masonry) A sheet of stone.
(wood) A slightly thinner measurement of a standard wood size.
Etymology 4
Adverb
scant (not comparable)
With difficulty; scarcely; hardly.
Noun
scant
Scarcity; lack.
Anagrams
• can'st, canst, cants, casn't
Source: Wiktionary
Scant, a. [Compar. Scanter; superl. Scantest.] Etym: [Icel. skamt, neuter of skamr, skammr, short; cf. skamta to dole out, to portion.]
1. Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; less than is wanted for the purpose; scanty; meager; not enough; as, a scant allowance of provisions or water; a scant pattern of cloth for a garment. His sermon was scant, in all, a quarter of an hour. Ridley.
2. Sparing; parsimonious; chary. Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence. Shak.
Syn.
– See under Scanty.
Scant, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Scanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Scanting.]
1. To limit; to straiten; to treat illiberally; to stint; as, to scant one in provisions; to scant ourselves in the use of necessaries. Where man hath a great living laid together and where he is scanted. Bacon. I am scanted in the pleasure of dwelling on your actions. Dryden.
2. To cut short; to make small, narrow, or scanty; to curtail. "Scant not my cups." Shak.
Scant, v. i.
Definition: To fail, of become less; to scantle; as, the wind scants.
Scant, adv.
Definition: In a scant manner; with difficulty; scarcely; hardly. [Obs.] Bacon. So weak that he was scant able to go down the stairs. Fuller.
Scant, n.
Definition: Scantness; scarcity. [R.] T. Carew.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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Word of the Day
29 April 2024
SUBDUCTION
(noun) a geological process in which one edge of a crustal plate is forced sideways and downward into the mantle below another plate
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