scarce
-
(a) deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand
- fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought
-
(r) only a very short time before
- 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