Meaning of hardly in English

Table of contents

Adverb
hardly
Definitions
1. by a small margin
Examples
- « 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 »
2. almost not
Examples
- « he hardly ever goes fishing »
- « he was hardly more than sixteen years old »
- « they scarcely ever used the emergency generator »

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