a piece of sawn timber, such as a rafter, that has a small cross section
2.
the dimensions of a piece of building material or the structural parts of a ship, esp those in cross section
3.
a building stone, esp one that is more than 6 feet in length
4.
a small quantity or amount
[C16: changed (through influence of scant and -ling1) from earlier scantillon, a carpenter's gauge, from Old Norman French escantillon, ultimately from Latin scandere to climb; see scan]