scant / skant/ • adj. barely sufficient or adequate: companies with scant regard for the safety of future generations. ∎  barely amounting to a specified number or quantity: she weighed a scant two pounds.• v. [tr.] provide grudgingly or in insufficient amounts: he does not scant his attention to the later writings. ∎  deal with inadequately; neglect: the press regularly scants a host of issues relating to safety and health.DERIVATIVES: scant·ly adv.scant·ness n.

scant stinted in measure; †parsimonious XIV; limited in extent or amount XVI. — ON. skamt, n. of skammr short, brief. Superseded largely by scanty (-Y1) XVI.

Scant

a dearth; a scarcity; a little amount.

Example : scant of squirery, 1475.