1
- (especially of food, money, or some other resource) insufficient for the demand（尤指食物、金钱或其他资源）缺乏的, 不足的; 供不应求的：
as raw materials became scarce, synthetics were developed.
由于原材料变得稀缺, 合成材料被开发出来了。
1.1
- occurring in small numbers or quantities; rare稀有的, 少见的：
the freshwater shrimp becomes scarce in soft water.
软水中淡水虾变得少见了。
- archaic scarcely〈古〉才, 刚刚：
a babe scarce two years old.
才两岁的小孩。
短语
make oneself scarce
- informal leave a place, especially so as to avoid a difficult situation〈非正式〉逃避, 溜走。
派生词
scarceness
nounscarcity
noun词源
Middle English （in the sense 'restricted in quantity or size', also 'parsimonious'）： from a shortening of Anglo-Norman escars, from a Romance word meaning 'plucked out, selected'.