destitution, scarce, limited
乏 centers on a state of severe lack: destitution, scarcity, or being limited in resources. The meanings all point to not having enough.
乏 is thought to derive from an inverted form of 正 (correct, upright), suggesting a reversal or lack of correctness, which extended to scarcity and destitution. The exact historical development is uncertain.
The top stroke 丿 looks like a single drop falling onto an empty container 之. Picture a nearly dry well with only a few drops left: scarcity and destitution.
For ボウ, imagine a bare cupboard with only a single bow-tie pasta left inside: bow -> ボウ, and the scarcity is clear.
poverty-stricken; destitute; poor; penurious
meagre; meager; scarce; limited; destitute; hard up; lacking; scanty; poor
poor person; the poor
deficiency; insufficiency; shortage; lack; want; dearth; scarcity
god of poverty
deficiency disease (e.g. protein, vitamin, etc.)
parsimonious spirit; tendency to be frugal; inclination to scrimp and save
jack of all trades, master of none
short end of the stick; short straw; unlucky number; blank; bad bargain
poverty; destitution; privation; indigence; penury
vitamin deficiency disease; avitaminosis; hypovitaminosis
poverty
to get scarce; to run short
oliguria
oligozoospermia; oligospermia
hardships and privations
hardships and privations
impoverishment of fishermen because of a bumper catch; decline in fishermen's income caused by the sharply lower fish prices as a result of an overabundant catch
good scholars are seldom rich
poverty caused by the high costs of (repetitive) moving