SCANT
What does "SCANT" mean?
Barely sufficient in amount or degree; not quite up to a full measure.
Meanings
- Insufficient or barely adequate in quantity. They survived the winter on scant rations and a lot of stubbornness.
- Just short of a stated measure, especially in cooking. Add a scant teaspoon of salt, not quite level.
- To provide or supply grudgingly; to skimp on. Don't scant the proofreading just because the deadline is close. formal
Word origin
From Old Norse 'skammt', the neuter of 'skammr' meaning 'short', which entered Middle English as 'scant' meaning 'sparing' or 'limited'.
Remember it
SCANT is a near-anagram of 'cant' with an S - you can't quite get a full helping.
A little poem
A scant inch of candle,
and the long night to read by-
so I read faster.
tercet
What it teaches
Scant is not nothing; the narrowest margin still counts as a margin.
Quick facts
What does SCANT mean?
Barely sufficient in amount or degree; not quite up to a full measure.
Is SCANT a valid word?
Yes — SCANT is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SCANT?
SCANT has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SCANT come from?
From Old Norse 'skammt', the neuter of 'skammr' meaning 'short', which entered Middle English as 'scant' meaning 'sparing' or 'limited'.
What can SCANT teach us?
Scant is not nothing; the narrowest margin still counts as a margin.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.