definition of
hardly

[1] #1 hardly r. [barely, just, scarcely, scarce] only a very short time before; "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.Ye. wn

[2] #2 hardly r. [scarcely] almost not; "he hardly ever goes fishing"; "he was hardly more than sixteen years old"; "they scarcely ever used the emergency generator". wn