From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishscarcescarce1 /skeəs $ skers/ ●●○ adjective (comparative scarcer, superlative scarcest) 1 RAREif something is scarce, there is not very much of it available Food was often scarce in the winter. There was fierce competition for the scarce resources.2 → make yourself scarce
Examples from the Corpus
scarce• After the war, food and clothing were scarce.• During the war, things like clothes and shoes were scarce.• With the increase in trade, good timber for shipbuilding was becoming scarcer.• Entirely reliable facts, other than those here mentioned, are scarce.• New-model Golfs are still scarce and dealers are paying high prices to secure them.• Thus, female orangutans choose to live alone in strict territories, the better to exploit their scarce food resources.• Aye, but you must remember that money was so scarce in the thirties that you couldn't miss anything.• Water is always scarce in these parts.• Cheap, clean hotel rooms are scarce in this city, especially in the summer.• In consequence, amphibian fossils become very scarce indeed in later geological periods and there are long gaps in their fossil history.• There is evidence that volatile materials have always been scarce on the Moon.• Mayors have to juggle scarce resources to keep their cities working.• Government departments often found themselves competing for scarce resources.• There the principal threat to the diversity of fish has been competition with man for scarce supplies of water.scarce resources• At the same time others may, through overfunding, be absorbing an unfair amount of scarce resources. 2.• Such decisions may have substantial implications for individual and social welfare and the allocation of scarce resources.• Gaining approval, competing for scarce resources, and obtaining cooperation require managers to develop bases of power beyond positional authority.• It is a process whereby scarce resources are allocated among competing powers and claimants.• Create and focus energy and meaningful language because they are the scarcest resources during periods of change.• For Hughes and Sumner there is too much competition for scarce resources for that to be convincing.• Thus old people preserved their dignity; the community preserved its scarce resources for the young.• Because of this, a strong administrative apparatus was needed to plan the use of scarce resources, organize production and regulate distribution.scarcescarce2 adverb literary JUST/ALMOST NOTscarcely He could scarce believe it.Examples from the Corpus
scarce• It is past before it has scarce begun.• The picture forming in his mind was clearer, more distinct, though he could scarce believe it.• With his own wife he scarce dare attempt it.• The problem of the prophecies was solved albeit in a way he had scarce expected.• Her memory returned fully ... She remembered quite clearly what she had been doing scarce ten minutes ago.From Longman Business Dictionaryscarcescarce /skeəsskers/ adjective if something is scarce, there is not enough of it availableHere, land is a scarce resource and house prices have risen sharply.Jobs are scarce. —scarcity noun [singular, uncountable]the present scarcity of labourOrigin scarce1 (1200-1300) Old North French escars, from Vulgar Latin excarpsus “pulled out”, from Latin excerpere; → EXCERPT 