scant

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
scant/skant/

▶adjective barely sufficient or adequate.

■ barely amounting to the amount specified: a scant two pounds.

▶verb chiefly N. Amer. provide grudgingly or in insufficient amounts.

■ deal with inadequately; neglect.

– derivatives
scantly adverb,
scantness noun.

– origin ME: from ON skamt, neut. of skammr ‘short’.