Scant use of spears (6)
I believe the answer is:
sparse
'scant' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'use of spears' is the wordplay.
'use of' is an anagram indicator.
'spears' anagrammed gives 'SPARSE'.
(Other definitions for sparse that I've seen before include "One's not at all thick" , "Not much" , "In short supply" , "Thinly-spread" , "Rare" .)