Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Sparingly; parsimoniously; niggardly; stingily.
  • Scantily; insufficiently.
  • Hardly; barely; with difficulty.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb modal Probably not.
  • adverb modal Certainly not.
  • adverb degree Almost not at all; by a small margin.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb almost not
  • adverb only a very short time before

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • The participation of Hill and his artillery in the operation was so slight that his name scarcely appeared in reports of the day's operations.

    LEE’S LIEUTENANTS DOUGLAS SOUTHALL FREEMAN 2001

  • The participation of Hill and his artillery in the operation was so slight that his name scarcely appeared in reports of the day's operations.

    LEE’S LIEUTENANTS DOUGLAS SOUTHALL FREEMAN 2001

  • The title scarcely gives an idea of the subject-matter of the poem.

    Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 4 Lucia Isabella Gilbert Runkle 1864

  • Democ - racy was a term scarcely used before the French Revo - lution; by the beginning of the nineteenth century it had its firm adherents and its equally ardent enemies.

    DEMOCRACY STEPHEN R. GRAUBARD 1968

  • A title scarcely less fit would perhaps be 'Studies into the

    Equality Edward Bellamy 1874

  • The participation of Hill and his artillery in the operation was so slight that his name scarcely appeared in reports of the day’s operations.

    Lee’s Lieutenants Douglas Southall Freeman 1971

  • The participation of Hill and his artillery in the operation was so slight that his name scarcely appeared in reports of the day’s operations.

    Lee’s Lieutenants Douglas Southall Freeman 1971

  • Andrea Gabrieli's printed in Vol. I of Proske's "Musica Divina") although the term scarcely applies, save in another sense, to J.S. Bach's "Missa Brevis" (in A) comprising in its forty-four closely printed pages only the music of the Kyrie and Gloria.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 10: Mass Music-Newman 1840-1916 1913

  • Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion, and straight black lips.

    The Creature 2010

  • There was the home-made galley we had built, the familiar break of the poop, the low yacht-cabin scarcely rising above the rail.

    Chapter 32 2010

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