scarce: [13] Scarce comes via Anglo-Norman scars, earlier escars, from Vulgar Latin *excarpsus ‘picked out’, hence ‘rare’. This was the past participle of *excarpere, an alteration of classical Latin excerpere ‘picked out. select’ (source of English excerpt [17]). And excerpere was a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and carpere ‘pluck’ (source of English carpet and related to harvest). => carpet, excerpt, harvest
scarce (adj.)
c. 1300, "restricted in quantity," from Old North French scars "scanty, scarce" (Old French eschars, Modern French échars) from Vulgar Latin *scarsus, from *escarpsus, from *excarpere "pluck out," from classical Latin excerpere "pluck out" (see excerpt). As an adverb early 14c. from the adjective. Phrase to make oneself scarce "go away" first attested 1771, noted as a current "cant phrase." Related: Scarcely.
双语例句
1. In some places maps are scarce, and are often crudely produced.
有些地方很少有地图，而且通常绘制得都很粗糙。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Why is full-frontal male nudity still so scarce in films?
为什么男性正面**的镜头在电影里还是如此少见呢？
来自柯林斯例句
3. It probably would be a good idea if you made yourself scarce.
你最好回避一下。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Fresh food is so scarce that prices have rocketed.
新鲜食物非常匮乏，导致价格猛涨。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Scarce water resources are shared between states who cannot trust each other.