"thin on the ground" meaning in English

See thin on the ground in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Forms: thinner on the ground [comparative], thinnest on the ground [superlative]
Head templates: {{en-adj|thinner on the ground|sup=thinnest on the ground}} thin on the ground (comparative thinner on the ground, superlative thinnest on the ground)
  1. (of something useful or desirable) Scarce; difficult to find. Synonyms: few and far between, deficient, in short supply, wanting#Adjective, lacking#Adjective, uncommon, ;, rare, rare
    Sense id: en-thin_on_the_ground-en-adj-aJdW5mVl Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "thinner on the ground",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "thinnest on the ground",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "thinner on the ground",
        "sup": "thinnest on the ground"
      },
      "expansion": "thin on the ground (comparative thinner on the ground, superlative thinnest on the ground)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "thick on the ground"
        },
        {
          "word": "common"
        },
        {
          "word": "widespread"
        },
        {
          "word": "abundant"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "ubiquitous"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2020 November 18, “Stop & Examine”, in Rail, page 71:",
          "text": "She explains: \"Customers are sadly thin on the ground, but my community and charity work are very much still part of me. [...].\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Scarce; difficult to find."
      ],
      "id": "en-thin_on_the_ground-en-adj-aJdW5mVl",
      "links": [
        [
          "Scarce",
          "scarce"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(of something useful or desirable) Scarce; difficult to find."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of something useful or desirable"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "few and far between"
        },
        {
          "word": "deficient"
        },
        {
          "word": "in short supply"
        },
        {
          "word": "wanting#Adjective"
        },
        {
          "word": "lacking#Adjective"
        },
        {
          "word": "uncommon"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "rare"
        },
        {
          "word": "rare"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "thin on the ground"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "thinner on the ground",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "thinnest on the ground",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "thinner on the ground",
        "sup": "thinnest on the ground"
      },
      "expansion": "thin on the ground (comparative thinner on the ground, superlative thinnest on the ground)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "thick on the ground"
        },
        {
          "word": "common"
        },
        {
          "word": "widespread"
        },
        {
          "word": "abundant"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "ubiquitous"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English adjectives",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2020 November 18, “Stop & Examine”, in Rail, page 71:",
          "text": "She explains: \"Customers are sadly thin on the ground, but my community and charity work are very much still part of me. [...].\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Scarce; difficult to find."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Scarce",
          "scarce"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(of something useful or desirable) Scarce; difficult to find."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of something useful or desirable"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "few and far between"
        },
        {
          "word": "deficient"
        },
        {
          "word": "in short supply"
        },
        {
          "word": "wanting#Adjective"
        },
        {
          "word": "lacking#Adjective"
        },
        {
          "word": "uncommon"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "rare"
        },
        {
          "word": "rare"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "thin on the ground"
}

Download raw JSONL data for thin on the ground meaning in English (1.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-23 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-21 using wiktextract (fef8596 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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