All 7 Uses
scarcity
in
Faust — Part 1 — translated by Theil
(Auto-generated)
- Two meet by chance, are pleased, they linger there,
Insensibly are link'd, they scarce know how;
Fortune seems now propitious, adverse now,
Then come alternate rapture and despair;
And 'tis a true romance ere one's aware.†*scarce = in short supply OR barely or hardly (by a small margin) - MEPHISTOPHELES
I would not lead you willingly astray,
But as regards this science, you will find
So hard it is to shun the erring way,
And so much hidden poison lies therein,
Which scarce can you discern from medicine.† - BRANDER
They're off a journey, that is clear,—From their strange manners; they have scarce been here
An hour.† - 'Tis no such paltry room
Why only look, you scarce can see the end.† - EMBRYO SPIRIT
Spider's foot and midge's wing,
A toad in form and feature;
Together verses it can string,
Though scarce n living creature.† - I scarce believe it yet.†
- The crowd doth gather, in silence it rolls;
The squares, the streets,
Scarce hold the throng.†
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."