Few vs. Scant

Scantadjective

Very little, very few.

‘After his previous escapades, Mary had scant reason to believe John.’;

Fewdeterminer

(used alone) Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of.

‘There are few people who understand quantum theory.’; ‘Many are called, but few are chosen.’;

Scantadjective

Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; scanty; meager; not enough.

‘a scant allowance of provisions or water; a scant pattern of cloth for a garment’;

Fewdeterminer

(US?) Obscuring one eighth to two eighths of the sky.

‘Tonight: A few clouds. Increasing cloudiness overnight.’; ‘NOAA definition of the term "few clouds": An official sky cover classification for aviation weather observations, descriptive of a sky cover of 1/8 to 2/8. This is applied only when obscuring phenomena aloft are present--that is, not when obscuring phenomena are surface-based, such as fog.’;

Fewpronoun

Few people, few things.

‘Many are called, but few are chosen.’;

Scantverb

(intransitive) To fail, or become less; to scantle.

‘The wind scants.’;

Fewnoun

an indefinite but relatively small number;

‘they bought a case of beer and drank a few’;

Scantnoun

(masonry) A sheet of stone.

Scantnoun

(wood) A slightly thinner measurement of a standard wood size.

Scantadjective

Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; less than is wanted for the purpose; scanty; meager; not enough; as, a scant allowance of provisions or water; a scant pattern of cloth for a garment.

‘His sermon was scant, in all, a quarter of an hour.’;

Scantverb

To cut short; to make small, narrow, or scanty; to curtail.

Scantnoun

Scantness; scarcity.

Scantverb

work hastily or carelessly; deal with inadequately and superficially

Scantverb

limit in quality or quantity

Scantverb

supply sparingly and with restricted quantities;

‘sting with the allowance’;

Scantadjective

less than the correct or legal or full amount often deliberately so;

‘a light pound’; ‘a scant cup of sugar’; ‘regularly gives short weight’;

Scantadjective

barely sufficient or adequate

‘companies with scant regard for the safety of future generations’;

Scantadjective

barely amounting to a specified number or quantity

‘she weighed a scant two pounds’;

Scantverb

provide grudgingly or in insufficient amounts

‘he does not scant his attention to the later writings’;

Scantverb

deal with inadequately; neglect

‘the press regularly scants a host of issues relating to safety and health’;