All 4 Uses

scarcity
in
The Time Machine
(Auto-generated)

At first I scarce thought of stopping, scarce thought of anything but these new sensations.†
Chpt 3 *

scarce = in short supply OR barely or hardly (by a small margin)
At first I scarce thought of stopping, scarce thought of anything but these new sensations.†
Chpt 3
But I had scarce entered this when my light was blown out and in the blackness I could hear the Morlocks rustling like wind among leaves, and pattering like the rain, as they hurried after me.†
Chpt 6
You can scarce imagine how nauseatingly inhuman they looked—those pale, chinless faces and great, lidless, pinkish-grey eyes!†
Chpt 6

Definitions:

(1) (scarcity)
shortage (having an amount that is less than desired)
(2) (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."