All 3 Uses of
scarcity
in
Jane Eyre
- Nothing ever rode the Gytrash: it was always alone; and goblins, to my notions, though they might tenant the dumb carcasses of beasts, could scarce covet shelter in the commonplace human form.†
p. 133.1 *scarce = in short supply OR barely or hardly (by a small margin)
- I had scarce tied the strings of the portfolio, when, looking at his watch, he said abruptly "It is nine o'clock: what are you about, Miss Eyre, to let Adele sit up so long?†
p. 149.0
- I proceeded: at last my way opened, the trees thinned a little; presently I beheld a railing, then the house — scarce, by this dim light, distinguishable from the trees; so dank and green were its decaying walls.†
p. 497.1
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."