Meagre

Meager Mea"ger, Meagre Mea"gre, a. [OE. merge, F. maigre, L. macer; akin to D. & G. mager, Icel. magr, and prob. to Gr. makro`s long. Cf. {Emaciate}, {Maigre}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Destitue of, or having little, flesh; lean. [1913 Webster]

Meager were his looks; Sharp misery had worn him to the bones. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

2. Destitute of richness, fertility, strength, or the like; defective in quantity, or poor in quality; poor; barren; scanty in ideas; wanting strength of diction or affluence of imagery; as, meager resources; meager fare. Opposite of {ample}. [WordNet sense 1] [Narrower terms: {exiguous}] [Narrower terms: {hardscrabble, marginal}] [Narrower terms: {measly, miserable, paltry}] ``Meager soil.'' --Dryden.

Syn: meagre, meagerly, scanty. [1913 Webster]

Of secular habits and meager religious belief. --I. Taylor. [1913 Webster]

His education had been but meager. --Motley. [1913 Webster]

3. (Min.) Dry and harsh to the touch, as chalk. [1913 Webster]

4. less than a desirable amount; -- of items distributed from a larger supply. [WordNet sense 2]

Syn: scrimpy, skimpy, skimping. [WordNet 1.5]

Syn: Thin; lean; lank; gaunt; starved; hungry; poor; emaciated; scanty; barren. [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Synonyms:

Lean, thin, emaciated, spare, poor lank, gaunt, skinny / Barren, poor, sterile, unproductive / Tame, feeble, jejune, vapid, bald, barren, dull, prosing, prosy, poor, mean, insignificant, small, scanty

Look at other dictionaries:

meagre — mea‧gre [ˈmiːgə ǁ ər] , meager adjective very small in amount: • Sales rose a meager 2.5% in January. • The chairman predicts very meagre growth this year. * * * meagre UK US UK (US meager) /ˈmiːgər/ adjective … Financial and business terms
Meagre — Mea gre, n. [F. maigre.] (Zo[ o]l.) A large European sci[ae]noid fish ({Sci[ae]na umbra} or {Sci[ae]na aquila}), having white bloodless flesh. It is valued as a food fish. [Written also {maigre}.] [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
meagre — British English spelling of MEAGER (Cf. meager) (q.v.); for spelling, see RE (Cf. re) … Etymology dictionary
meagre — is spelt this way in BrE, and usually meager in AmE … Modern English usage
meagre — (US meager) ► ADJECTIVE 1) lacking in quantity or quality. 2) lean; thin. DERIVATIVES meagreness noun. ORIGIN Old French maigre, from Latin macer … English terms dictionary
meagre — mea|gre BrE meager AmE [ˈmi:gə US ər] adj [Date: 1300 1400; : French; Origin: maigre, from Latin macer thin ] a meagre amount of food, money etc is too small and is much less than you need ▪ a meagre diet of bread and beans meagre… … Dictionary of contemporary English
meagre — [[t]mi͟ːgə(r)[/t]] ADJ GRADED (disapproval) If you describe an amount or quantity of something as meagre, you are critical of it because it is very small or not enough. The bank s staff were already angered by a meagre 3.1% pay rise... Their food … English dictionary
meagre — BrE, meager AmE adjective a meagre amount of food, money etc is too small and is much less than you need: meagre wages | a meager diet meagrely adverb meagreness noun (U) … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
Meagre — Meager Mea ger, Meagre Mea gre, v. t. To make lean. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Meagre — Adlerfisch Adlerfisch (Argyrosomus regius) Systematik Teilklasse: Echte Knochenfische (Teleostei) Ordnung … Deutsch Wikipedia

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Meagre

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Meagre

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