Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Small in size.
- adjective Small in quantity or extent: synonym: small.
- adjective Short in extent or duration; brief.
- adjective Unimportant; trivial.
- adjective Narrow; petty.
- adjective Having scant power or influence; of minor status.
- adjective Being at an early stage of growth; young.
- adjective Younger or youngest. Used especially of a sibling.
- adverb Not much; scarcely.
- adverb Not in the least; not at all.
- noun A small quantity or amount.
- noun Something much less than all.
- noun A short distance or time.
- idiom (a little) Somewhat; a bit.
- idiom (little by little) By small degrees or increments; gradually.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not large or much.
- Not large in number; having few constituent, members or parts: as, a little army or fleet; a little city.
- Not much; of small amount, quantity, or degree; restricted; limited: as, a little food or drink; little joy or happiness; little influence.
- Not of great extent or duration; not long; short in space or time; brief: as, a little way or distance; a little while.
- Not great; small in consideration, dignity, consequence, etc.; petty; inconsiderable; insignificant: as, a little office; little affairs; a little accident.
- Hence— Petty in character; mean; narrow; wanting breadth or largeness: as, a little soul or mind.
- Synonyms Minute, tiny.
- and Scanty, slender, moderate.
- Insignificant, contemptible, weak. See
littleness . - noun A small quantity, amount, space, or the like.
- To become little or less.
- To make less. Compare
belittle . - In a small quantity or degree; not much; slightly.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb In a small quantity or degree; not much; slightly; somewhat; -- often with a preceding it.
- noun That which is little; a small quantity, amount, space, or the like.
- noun A small degree or scale; miniature.
- adjective Small in size or extent; not big; diminutive; -- opposed to
big orlarge - adjective Short in duration; brief.
- adjective Small in quantity or amount; not much
- adjective Small in dignity, power, or importance; not great; insignificant; contemptible.
- adjective Small in force or efficiency; not strong; weak; slight; inconsiderable
- adjective Small in extent of views or sympathies; narrow; shallow; contracted; mean; illiberal; ungenerous.
- adjective (Zoöl.) See
Chief hare . - adjective an Englishman opposed to territorial expansion of the British Empire. See
Antiimperialism , above. - adjective the fourth and smallest finger of the hand.
- adjective (Eng. Universities) a public examination about the middle of the course, which is less strict and important than the final one; -- called also
smalls . Cf. Great go, underGreat . - adjective (R. C. Ch.) the offices of prime, tierce, sext, and nones. Vespers and compline are sometimes included.
- adjective (Zoöl.) the quahog, or round clam.
- adjective young children.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Small in size. - adjective Insignificant,
trivial .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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By the end, it's almost arbitrary which is little comfort, I know, but hopefully it is, well....a *little* comfort
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But now I is a little older a *little* only and can use mah newfound maturity to turn those naughty bois over mah knee and teach them some manners.
INVISIBLE MACYS PARADE - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008
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I love all the little treats, candies, lipgloss..little slippers, cards, ribbons.. love that red w/ white polka dot ribbon..
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"Okay Mom .. move this arm a little to the left, now crouch just a little okay .. we're making progress."
chubbychic Diary Entry chubbychic 2006
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Similarly, when the travel agent says ˜Reno is the biggest little city™, we do not interpret her as overlooking the vagueness of ˜little city™.
Vagueness Sorensen, Roy 2006
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I've found on planetmagrathea.com that this sentence of Slartibartfast's is changed in the feature film but the formula remains: ... so that Slartibartfast no longer claims to know little of these early sixties sitcoms of which you speak but instead knows little of this cheese of which you speak.
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And I had to laugh a little when we got into a *little* argument last night over how long his hair is!
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_He that contemneth small things shall fall by little and little_.
Daily Strength for Daily Needs Mary W. Tileston
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Of all his poems, however, the loveliest and best is a little simple song, _There was a time when I was very little_, which every Dane, high or low, knows by heart, and which is matchless in its simplicity and pathos.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" Various
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If a girl of high ideals is thinking about them now and knows that she has of late been tempted to lower them a little, let me ask her to look at them very earnestly before she consents to tarnish them _even a little_.
The Girl and Her Religion Margaret Slattery
carolinacc commented on the word little
I believe "precious little" is a beautiful expression, as in "So much needed to be changed in academic life and society at large, and precious little of all that 60's rebelliousness made an impact". Gatochy
October 19, 2008
bilby commented on the word little
I am the sister of him
And he is my brother.
He is too little for us
To talk to each other.
So every morning I show him
My doll and my book;
But every morning he still is
Too little to look.
- Dorothy Aldis, 'Little'.
November 1, 2008