Both Uses of
scarcity
in
My Antonia
- It must have been the scarcity of detail in that tawny landscape that made detail so precious.†
Book 1 *scarcity = shortage (having an amount that is less than desired)
- I guess rabbits must be getting scarce in this locality.†
Book 1scarce = in short supply OR barely or hardly (by a small margin)
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."