meagre

noun

1. An edible fish, of species Argyrosomus regius, of the family Sciaenidae, found from the Black Sea to the eastern Atlantic.

   “1986, A. Wysokiński, The Living Marine Resources of the Southeast Atlantic, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 178, page 48, Among more valuable species some of them are worth mentioning, especially littoral forms as: meagres and other croakers (Sciaenidae), grunters (Pomadasyidae), threadfins (Polynemidae), groupers (Serranidae), snappers (Lutjanidae) […] .”

   “It is striking that these represent meagres (Argyrosomus regius), a species never mentioned in classical texts.”

   “Meagres (Argyrosomus regius, 230 cm, 103 kg) have been raised mainly in Spain, France and Italy.”

adj

1. (Canada, UK, common)Having little flesh; lean; thin.

   “[…]meagre were his looks; / Sharp misery had worn him to the bones:”

2. (Canada, UK, common)Deficient or inferior in amount, quality or extent

   “Nothing will grow in this meagre soil.”

   “He was given a meagre piece of cake that he swallowed in one bite.”

   “His education had been but meagre.”

   “It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the present rail passenger service is meagre and between Wetherby and Church Fenton almost non-existent.”

   “Until the recent rash of North London line maps appeared on station billboards in the London area of BR, the service undoubtedly suffered from meagre and ineffectual publicity.”

3. (Canada, UK, common)Of a set: such that, considered as a subset of a (usually larger) topological space, it is in a precise sense small or negligible.
4. (Canada, UK, common)Dry and harsh to the touch (e.g., as chalk).

verb

1. (Canada, UK, common, transitive)To make lean.

   “I am meagred to a skeleton; my nose is broiled to flaming heat, and I am suffering the greatest inconvenience from the loss of my baggage which I fear the enemy have taken with my servant at Konigsberg.”