Rare — Rare, a. [Compar. {Rarer} (r[^a]r [ e]r); superl. {Rarest}.] [F., fr. L. rarus thin, rare.] 1. Not frequent; seldom met with or occurring; unusual; as, a rare event. [1913 Webster] 2. Of an uncommon nature; unusually excellent; valuable to a… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
rare´ness — rare1 «rair», adjective, rar|er, rar|est. 1. seldom seen or found: »Peacocks and storks are rare birds in the United States. The three o clock in the morning courage which Bonaparte thought was the rarest (Thoreau) … Useful english dictionary
scarce — adjective 1) food was scarce scarce financial resources Syn: in short supply, scant, scanty, meager, sparse, short, hard to find, hard to come by, too little, insufficient, deficient, inadequate, lacking, wanting; a … Thesaurus of popular words
scarce — See rare. See rare, scarce See scarce, scarcely … Dictionary of problem words and expressions
rare — See rare, scarce … Dictionary of problem words and expressions
scarce - scarcely — ◊ scarce Scarce is an adjective. If something that people use is scarce, very little of it is available. Good quality land is scarce. ...a place where water is scarce. ◊ rare You do not use … Useful english dictionary
Scarce — (sk[^a]rs), a. [Compar. {Scarcer} (sk[^a]r s[ e]r); superl. {Scarcest}.] [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, excarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see {Ex }) + carpere. See… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Rare earth element — Rare earth ore, shown with a United States penny for size comparison These rare … Wikipedia
rare — rare1 [rer] adj. rarer, rarest [ME < MFr < L rarus, loose, thin, scarce, prob. < IE base * (e)re , loose > Gr erēmos, solitary] 1. not frequently encountered; scarce; unusual 2. unusually good; excellent [a rare scholar] 3. not dense; … English World dictionary
rare — I adjective choice, curious, different, excellent, exceptional, exquisite, extraordinary, fine, incomparable, inconceivable, infrequent, inusitatus, matchless, noteworthy, out of circulation, out of the ordinary, peerless, precious, priceless,… … Law dictionary
