Both Uses of
scarcity
in
Henry VIII
- You have scarce time To steal from spiritual leisure a brief span To keep your earthly audit.†
Scene 3.2 *scarce = in short supply OR barely or hardly (by a small margin)
- My Lord of Norfolk, as you are truly noble, As you respect the common good, the state Of our despis'd nobility, our issues, Who, if he live, will scarce be gentlemen, Produce the grand sum of his sins, the articles Collected from his life.†
Scene 3.2
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."