What is the meaning of scarcely?

adverb

• Only a very short time before."they could barely hear the speaker"; "we hardly knew them"; "just missed being hit"; "had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open"; "would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave- W. B. Yeats
  • synonyms: barely, hardly, just, scarce
• Almost not.
  • usage: "he hardly ever goes fishing"; "he was hardly more than sixteen years old"; "they scarcely ever used the emergency generator"
  • synonyms: hardly