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# 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/#m1)

2) Scarce means rare and hard to find. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/#m2)

3) «Make yourself scarce» means go away quickly or keep out of the way. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/#m3)

4) Scarce can also mean hardly or only just, as in 'I could scarce see'. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/#m4)

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/#x1)
- Water is scarce in the desert, so camels store fat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/#x2)
- Good seats are scarce, so come early. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/#x3)
- When the teacher got angry, we made ourselves scarce. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/#x4)
- This rare stamp is very scarce. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/#x5)
- Fresh fruit was scarce on the old sailing ships. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/#x6)
- They scarce dared to speak or turn their heads. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/#x7)

### 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.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/95-money-shops-work-town/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «scarce» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scarce/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.