What is "hardscrabble marginal"

Meager \Mea"ger\, Meagre \Mea"gre\, a. [OE. merge, F. maigre, L. macer; akin to D. & G. mager, Icel. magr, and prob. to Gr. makro`s long. Cf. Emaciate, Maigre.]

1. Destitue of, or having little, flesh; lean.

   Meager were his looks; Sharp misery had worn him to the bones.
   --Shak.

2. Destitute of richness, fertility, strength, or the like; defective in quantity, or poor in quality; poor; barren; scanty in ideas; wanting strength of diction or affluence of imagery; as, meager resources; meager fare. Opposite of ample. [WordNet sense 1] [Narrower terms: exiguous] [Narrower terms: hardscrabble, marginal] [Narrower terms: measly, miserable, paltry] ``Meager soil.''
   --Dryden.

   Syn: meagre, meagerly, scanty.

   Of secular habits and meager religious belief.
   --I. Taylor.

   His education had been but meager.
   --Motley.

3. (Min.) Dry and harsh to the touch, as chalk.

4. less than a desirable amount; -- of items distributed from a larger supply. [WordNet sense 2]

   Syn: scrimpy, skimpy, skimping.

   Syn: Thin; lean; lank; gaunt; starved; hungry; poor; emaciated; scanty; barren.