Dryden.
2. To cut short; to make small, narrow, or scanty; to curtail. "Scant
not my cups." Shak.
Scant, v. i. To fail, or become less; to scantle; as, the wind scants.
Scant, adv. In a scant manner; with difficulty; scarcely; hardly.
[Obs.] Bacon.
So weak that he was scant able to go down the stairs.
Fuller.
Scant, n. Scantness; scarcity. [R.] T. Carew.
Scant"i*ly (?), adv. In a scanty manner; not fully; not plentifully;
sparingly; parsimoniously.
His mind was very scantily stored with materials.
Macaulay.
Scant"i*ness, n. Quality or condition of being scanty.
Scan"tle (?), v. i. [Dim. of scant, v.] To be deficient; to fail.
[Obs.] Drayton.
Scan"tle (?), v. t. [OF. escanteler, eschanteler, to break into
contles; pref. es- (L. ex) + cantel, chantel, corner, side, piece.
Confused with E. scant. See Cantle.] To scant; to be niggard of; to
divide into small pieces; to cut short or down. [Obs.]
All their pay Must your discretion scantle; keep it back.
J. Webster.
Scant"let (?), n. [OF. eschantelet corner.] A small pattern; a small
quantity. [Obs.] Sir M. Hale.
Scant"ling (?), a. [See Scant, a.] Not plentiful; small; scanty. [Obs.]
Jer. Taylor.
Scant"ling, n. [Cf. OF. eschantillon, F. échantillon, a sample,
pattern, example. In some senses confused with scant insufficient. See
Scantle, v. t.] 1. A fragment; a bit; a little piece. Specifically: (a)
A piece or quantity cut for a special purpose; a sample. [Obs.]
Such as exceed not this scantling; -- to be solace to the sovereign
and harmless to the people.
Bacon.
A pretty scantling of his knowledge may taken by his deferring to
be baptized so many years.
Milton.
(b) A small quantity; a little bit; not much. [Obs.]
Reducing them to narrow scantlings.
Jer. Taylor.
2. A piece of timber sawed or cut of a small size, as for studs, rails,
etc.
3. The dimensions of a piece of timber with regard to its breadth and
thickness; hence, the measure or dimensions of anything.