| 释义 |
scarce
scarce S0124300 (skârs)adj. scarc·er, scarc·est 1. Insufficient to meet a demand or requirement; short in supply: Fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought.2. Hard to find; absent or rare: Steel pennies are scarce now except in coin shops.adv. Barely or hardly; scarcely.Idiom: make (oneself) scarce Informal 1. To stay away; be absent or elusive.2. To depart, especially quickly or furtively; abscond.
[Middle English scars, from Old French scars, from Vulgar Latin *excarpsus, narrow, cramped, from past participle of *excarpere, to pluck out, alteration of Latin excerpere, to pick out; see excerpt.]
scarce′ness n.scarce (skɛəs) adj1. rarely encountered2. insufficient to meet the demand3. make oneself scarce informal to go away, esp suddenlyadvarchaic or literary scarcely[C13: from Old Norman French scars, from Vulgar Latin excarpsus (unattested) plucked out, from Latin excerpere to select; see excerpt] ˈscarceness nscarce (skɛərs)
adj. scarc•er, scarc•est,
adv. adj. 1. insufficient to satisfy the need or demand. 2. rarely encountered. adv. 3. scarcely. Idioms: make oneself scarce, a. to leave, esp. quickly. b. to stay away. [1250–1300; Middle English scars < Old North French (e)scars < Vulgar Latin *excarpsus plucked out, for Latin excerptus; see excerpt] scarce′ness, n. scarce scarcely">scarcelyBoth scarce and scarcely are fairly formal words. They have completely different meanings. 1. 'scarce'Scarce is an adjective. If something is scarce, very little of it is available. Good quality land is scarce.The desert is a place where water is scarce.2. 'rare'Don't use 'scarce' to say that something is not common, and is therefore interesting. Use rare. This flower is so rare that few botanists have ever seen it.Deepak's hobby is collecting rare books.3. 'scarcely'Scarcely is an adverb that means the same as 'hardly'. If something is scarcely true, it is almost not true. If something scarcely exists, it almost does not exist. The smell was so bad I could scarcely bear it.The woman was scarcely able to walk.Be Careful!
Don't use 'not' with scarcely. Don't say, for example, 'I do not scarcely have enough money to live'. Say 'I scarcely have enough money to live'. If you use an auxiliary verb or modal with scarcely, put the auxiliary verb or modal first. Say, for example, 'I could scarcely stand'. Don't say 'I scarcely could stand'. I can scarcely remember what we ate.He could scarcely be blamed for his reaction.Scarcely is sometimes used to emphasize that one thing happened immediately after another. We had scarcely arrived when it was time to leave again.Be Careful!
Use when, not 'than', in sentences like these. Don't say, for example, 'We had scarcely arrived than it was time to leave again'. In literary writing, scarcely is sometimes put at the beginning of a sentence, followed by had or the verb be and the subject. Scarcely had she put down the receiver when the phone rang again.Scarcely were the words spoken when he began to regret them.Thesaurus| Adj. | 1. | scarce - deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand; "fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought"meager, meagerly, meagre, scrimpy, stingy - deficient in amount or quality or extent; "meager resources"; "meager fare"abundant - present in great quantity; "an abundant supply of water" | | Adv. | 1. |  scarce - only a very short time before; "they could barely hear the speaker"; "we hardly knew them"; "just missed being hit"; "had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open"; "would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave"- W.B.Yeatsbarely, hardly, scarcely, just |
scarceadjective1. in short supply, wanting, insufficient, deficient, at a premium, thin on the ground Food was scarce and expensive.
in short supply sufficient, ample, abundant, plentiful, plenteous2. rare, few, unusual, uncommon, few and far between, infrequent, thin on the ground, seldom met with I'm unemployed, so luxuries are scarce.
rare common, numerous, frequent, commonplacescarceadjective1. Not enough to meet a demand or requirement:deficient, inadequate, insufficient, short, shy, under, wanting.2. Rarely occurring or appearing:infrequent, occasional, rare, sporadic, uncommon, unusual.Idiom: few and far between.adverbBy a very little; almost not:barely, hardly, just, scarcely.Translationsscarce (skeəs) adjective not many or enough in number. Paintings by this artist are very scarce; Food is scarce because of the drought. 罕見的，少之又少的 罕见的，缺乏的 ˈscarcely adverb1. only just; not quite. Speak louder please – I can scarcely hear you; scarcely enough money to live on. 幾乎不，幾乎沒有 几乎不2. used to suggest that something is unreasonable. You can scarcely expect me to work when I'm ill. 怎麼可以(用來指出無理的事) 实在不应该ˈscarcity noun (a) lack or shortage. a scarcity of work/jobs; times of scarcity. 缺乏 缺乏make oneself scarce to run away or stay away, especially in order to avoid trouble. As soon as the police arrived, he made himself scarce. (尤指為避開麻煩)溜走，置身事外 溜走scarce
(as) rare as hens' teethIncredibly scarce or rare; extremely difficult or impossible to find. Support for the president is as rare as hens' teeth in this part of the country.See also: rare, teethbe as scarce as hen's teethTo be incredibly rare; to be extremely difficult or impossible to find. Support for the president is as scarce as hens' teeth in this part of the country.See also: scarce, teeth(as) scarce as hens' teethIncredibly scarce or rare; extremely difficult or impossible to find. Support for the candidate is as scarce as hens' teeth in this part of the country.See also: scarce, teethmake (oneself) scarceTo leave, hide, or make oneself less visible, typically to avoid something. Lisa's fuming about your text message, so you better make yourself scarce until she calms down. Why is it that when there are chores to do, the kids somehow know to make themselves scarce?See also: make, scarcegood men are scarceFew men are ideal romantic partners or workers. If he's got a great resume, then you better hire him—good men are scarce. All right, fine, set me up with your friend—I know good men are scarce.See also: good, men, scarceGood men are scarce. and A good man is hard to find.Prov. Men who make good husbands or workers are rare. Larry is the best employee I've ever had, and I'll go to a good deal of effort to keep him, because good men are scarce. "I think you should marry John," Sue advised her daughter. "He's a good man, and a good man is hard to find."See also: good, men, scarcemake oneself scarceFig. [for someone] to become difficult to find; [for someone to] go into hiding. Tom is mad and is looking for you. Better make yourself scarce. Make yourself scarce! Here comes the sheriff.See also: make, scarce*scarce as hen's teeth and scarcer than hen's teethCliché scarce; seldom found. (*Also: as ~.) I do declare, decent people are as scarce as hen's teeth in these chaotic times. Handmade lace is scarcer than hen's teeth; most lace is made by machine.See also: scarce, teethmake oneself scarceDepart quickly, go away, as in The children saw Mrs. Frost coming and made themselves scarce. This idiom applies scarce in the sense of "seldom seen" to removing one's presence. [c. 1800] See also: make, scarcescarce as hen's teethAlso, scarcer than hen's teeth. Exceptionally rare, as in On a rainy night, taxis are as scarce as hen's teeth. Since hens have no teeth, this term in effect says that something is so scarce as to be nonexistent. [Mid-1800s] See also: scarce, teethrare as hen's teeth or scarce as hen's teeth OLD-FASHIONEDIf something is as rare as hen's teeth or as scarce as hen's teeth, it is extremely rare. Record companies are becoming as rare as hen's teeth. Note: Hens do not have teeth. See also: rare, teethrare (or scarce) as hen's teeth extremely rare. As hens do not possess teeth, the implication is that something is rare to the point of non-existence. The phrase was originally a US colloquialism, dating from the mid 19th century.See also: rare, teethmake yourself scarce surreptitiously disappear; keep out of the way. informalSee also: make, scarce(as) rare/scarce as hen’s ˈteeth (old-fashioned) extremely rare: Critics always complain that good movies that the whole family can see together are as scarce as hen’s teeth.This refers to the fact that hens do not have teeth.See also: rare, scarce, teethˌmake yourself ˈscarce (informal) leave the place you are in in order to avoid an embarrassing or difficult situation: I could see they wanted to be alone, so I made myself scarce.See also: make, scarcemake oneself scarce tv. to leave; to be in a place less frequently; to be less in evidence. Here come the boys in blue. I’d better make myself scarce. See also: make, scarce make (oneself) scarce Informal 1. To stay away; be absent or elusive.2. To depart, especially quickly or furtively; abscond.See also: make, scarcescarce as hen's teethSingularly rare. Also put as scarcer than hen’s teeth, this allusion to nonexistent dentition is an Americanism of the nineteenth century. It appeared in James Gilmore’s My Southern Friends (1863): “Horses are scarcer than hen’s teeth around here.”See also: scarce, teethscarce as hen's teethNonexistent. Hens have no teeth, so what could possibly be scarcer? (Stones in their gizzards act as teeth to grind their food).See also: scarce, teethFinancialSeescarcitySCARCE
| Acronym | Definition |
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| SCARCE➣School and Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education (Illinois; environmental literacy advocacy organization) |
scarce
Synonyms for scarceadj in short supplySynonyms- in short supply
- wanting
- insufficient
- deficient
- at a premium
- thin on the ground
Antonyms- sufficient
- ample
- abundant
- plentiful
- plenteous
adj rareSynonyms- rare
- few
- unusual
- uncommon
- few and far between
- infrequent
- thin on the ground
- seldom met with
Antonyms- common
- numerous
- frequent
- commonplace
Synonyms for scarceadj not enough to meet a demand or requirementSynonyms- deficient
- inadequate
- insufficient
- short
- shy
- under
- wanting
adj rarely occurring or appearingSynonyms- infrequent
- occasional
- rare
- sporadic
- uncommon
- unusual
adv by a very little; almost notSynonymsSynonyms for scarceadj deficient in quantity or number compared with the demandRelated Words- meager
- meagerly
- meagre
- scrimpy
- stingy
Antonymsadv only a very short time beforeSynonyms |