scarcely

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scarce|ly /sk'eərsli/
1 [ADV] ADV before v, ADV group, oft ADV amount
You use scarcely to emphasize that something is only just true or only just the case.
He could scarcely breathe...
I scarcely knew him...
He was scarcely more than a boy...
2 [ADV] ADV before v, ADV group
You can use scarcely to say that something is not true or is not the case, in a humorous or critical way.
It can scarcely be coincidence...
= hardly
3 [ADV] ADV before v
If you say scarcely had one thing happened when something else happened, you mean that the first event was followed immediately by the second.
Scarcely had they left before soldiers arrived armed with rifles...

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