[adv] by a small margin; "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.Yeats
[adj] deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand; "fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought"
[adj] not enough; hard to find; "meat was scarce during the war"