Scant means barely enough or less than needed. When a recipe calls for a scant teaspoon of salt, you use slightly less than a full teaspoon. When someone gives you scant information about a homework assignment, they tell you so little that you can barely figure out what to do.

The word carries a sense of insufficiency: not quite enough to do the job properly. A book report with scant evidence means the writer didn't include enough examples to support their argument. A student who pays scant attention in class is barely listening, giving the teacher far less focus than needed to understand the material.

You might also encounter the related word scanty, which describes something thin, skimpy, or inadequate: a scanty meal doesn't fill you up, and scanty rainfall during a drought means far too little rain fell to help the crops grow. Both words suggest a disappointing shortage, whether of food, information, attention, or resources.