thin on the ground
Hard to find
Thin on the ground describes something scarce or hard to find in a particular area.
The image is of plants or objects spread so sparsely across terrain that bare ground shows between them.
Good mechanics are thin on the ground in this town.
Evidence for the theory remains thin on the ground.
More common in British than American English.
- fewSmall in number
- spareHeld in reserve
- scarceIn short supply
- scantBarely adequate amount
- hard to findDifficult to locate
rare · few and far between · hard to come by · insufficiency · infrequency · wanting · sporadic · spread out · undersupply · deficient · uncommon · rarer than hen's teeth · lack · dearth · shortage · slim pickings · paucity · meagerness
thin on the groundthick on the ground
Numerous and widespread
abundant · plentiful · everywhere · in abundance · common
thin, thinner, thinnest, thinly, thinness, ground, grounds, grounded, grounding