Both Uses of
scarcity
in
The Grapes of Wrath
- The water grew scarce, water was to be bought, five cents, ten cents, fifteen cents a gallon.†
Chpt 18 *scarce = in short supply OR barely or hardly (by a small margin)
- Jobs is scarce—reg'lar jobs.†
Chpt 26
Definitions:
-
(1)
(scarcity) shortage (having an amount that is less than desired)
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely (and typically in classic literature), scarce can be short for scarcely or hardly or barely or by a small margin -- such as in "She was scarce ten years old," or "I scarce know why."