Thin on the ground (6)
(Other definitions for meagre that I've seen before include "Poor in quality" , "Small, insufficient" , "Miserable" , "Slight" , "Insufficient; scanty" .)
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">thin on the ground</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this before)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for sparse that I've seen before include "Meagre, scanty" , "Thinly dotted about" , "Meagre; scarce" , "Thinly populated" , "Thin on the ground, scarce" .)
(Other definitions for scarce that I've seen before include "Wanting" , "Uncommon" , "exceptional" , "Not plentiful, in short supply" , "Hard to obtain" .)