Scattered boxes on bottom of pile (6)
I believe the answer is:
sparse
'scattered' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'boxes on bottom of pile' is the wordplay.
'boxes' becomes 'spars' (sparring is a kind of boxing).
'on bottom of' says to take the final letters.
The last letter of 'pile' is 'e'.
'spars'+'e'='SPARSE'
(Other definitions for sparse that I've seen before include "Meagre; scarce" , "Far from lavish" , "Thinly-spread" , "In short supply" , "Meagre, scanty" .)