little

adj., lit·tler, or less (lĕs), also less·er (lĕs'ər), lit·tlest, or least (lēst).

1. Small in size: a little dining room. See synonyms at small.
2. Short in extent or duration; brief: There is little time left.
3. Small in quantity or degree: little money.
4. Unimportant; trivial: a little matter.
5. Narrow; petty: mean little comments; a little mind consumed with trivia.
6. Without much power or influence; of minor status.
7. 1. Being at an early stage of growth; young: a little child.
   2. Younger or youngest. Used especially of a sibling: My little brother is leaving for college next week.

adv., less, or lesser, least.

1. Not much; scarcely: works long hours, sleeping little.
2. Not in the least; not at all: They little expected such a generous gift.

n.

1. A small quantity or amount: Give me a little.
2. Something much less than all: I know little of their history.
3. A short distance or time: a little down the road; waited a little.

idioms:

a little

1. Somewhat; a bit: felt a little better.

little by little

1. By small degrees or increments; gradually.

[Middle English, from Old English lȳtel.]

littleness lit'tle·ness n.

adjective

1. Notably below average in amount, size, or scope: bantam, petite, small, smallish. See big/small/amount.
2. Not of great importance: inconsequent, inconsequential, insignificant, trivial, unimportant. See big/small/amount.
3. Not broad or elevated in scope or understanding: limited, narrow, narrow-minded, petty, small, small-minded. See limited/unlimited, wide/narrow.
4. Not yet large in size because of incomplete growth: small. See youth/age/maturity.

adverb

At rare intervals: infrequently, occasionally, rarely, seldom, sporadically. Idioms: hardlyscarcelyever, once in a blue moon. See usual/unusual.

Idioms beginning with little:
little by little
little bird told one, a
little knowledge is a dangerous thing, a

See also a little; every little bit helps; in one's own (little) world; make little of; precious few (little); think little of; to little purpose; too little, too late.

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adj

Definition: infrequently
Antonyms: frequently

adj

Definition: narrow-minded
Antonyms: magnanimous, open, open-minded

adj

Definition: not important
Antonyms: great, important, magnificent

adj

Definition: small in size, amount
Antonyms: big, enormous, giant, great, huge, immense, large, massive

adv

Definition: infrequently, not much
Antonyms: frequently, more, much

n

Definition: small amount of something
Antonyms: lot

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The smaller, less important, of two.

• l. celandine — ranunculus ficaria.
• l. hemlock — aethusa cynapium.
• l. liver fluke — see dicrocoelium dendriticum.
• l. loosestrife — see lythrium hyssopifolia.
• l. mealworm — see alphitobius diaperinus.
• l. spearwort — ranunculus flammaula.

IN BRIEF: Small.

Add little to little and there will be a big pile. — Ovid (43 BC-c. 18 AD)

Dreaming about being little can relate to childhood or to "feeling small." Little also finds a place in numerous idioms, any one of which might indicate the meaning of one's dream: "little by little," a "little horror," "too little too late," "Oak trees grow from little acorns," etc. (See also Shrink; Small).

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Common misspelling(s) of little

• littel

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - lille, liden, små, små-
det., -
pron. - den lille
adv. - lidt, ikke meget
n. - lille

idioms:

• a little bit    en lille smule, lidt, et øjeblik
• a little bit of    en lille smule af
• after a little    lidt efter, et øjeblik efter
• little by little    lidt efter lidt, gradvis, skridtvis
• Little Dipper    Lille Bjørn
• little finger    lillefinger
• little or nothing    praktisk talt intet, så godt som ingenting, lidet eller intet
• little short of    næsten
• little to choose between    ikke meget at vælge imellem
• little wonder    lille vidunder
• make little of    bagatellisere, ikke få meget ud af, nedsætte, skære ned

Nederlands (Dutch)
weinig, klein, jong, vertederend, kleingeestig, enigszins, niet, niet vaak

Français (French)
adj. - un peu, infime, petit, quelques (jours)
det. - peu de, presque pas, pas grand-chose, le moins, pas ... beaucoup, un peu, pas tellement
pron. - peu (de), pas grand-chose, guère
adv. - peu, à peine, pas du tout, jamais, loin de (douter)
n. - petit

idioms:

• a little    un peu de, un petit
• a little bit    un peu de, (non) sans, plutôt
• a little bit of a    un petit peu de, une petite quantité de
• after a little    après peu
• little by little    petit à petit
• Little Dipper    (US, Astron) Petite Ourse
• little finger    petit doigt, auriculaire
• little or nothing    peu ou rien
• little short of    à court de
• little to choose between    se valoir, l'un vaut l'autre
• little wonder    pas étonnant, guère étonnant
• make little of    ne pas faire grand cas de, ne pas comprendre grand-chose à
• not a little    plutôt
• of little consequence    sans grande conséquence

Deutsch (German)
adj. - klein, gering
adv. - wenig
n. - Weniges
det. - wenig, eine kleine Menge
pron. - wenig, eine kleine Menge

idioms:

• a little    etwas ..., ein wenig od. bißchen ...
• a little bit    ein bißchen, ein kleines bißchen
• a little bit of a    ein kleines bißchen
• after a little    nach einer Weile
• little by little    nach und nach
• Little Dipper    (Astron.) kleiner Wagen/Bär
• little finger    kleiner Finger
• little or nothing    kaum etwas
• little short of    beinahe
• little to choose between    wenig Unterschied zwischen
• little wonder    kein Wunder
• make little of    etwas herunterspielen
• not a little    einiges
• of little consequence    spielt keine so große Rolle

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - μικρός, ασήμαντος, λίγος, ελάχιστος, γλίσχρος
adv. - ελάχιστα, (πολύ) λίγο
n. - λίγο

idioms:

• a little bit    λιγουλάκι
• a little bit of    λίγο από
• after a little    μετά από λίγο
• little by little    σιγά σιγά
• Little Dipper    Μικρή 'Αρκτος
• little finger    μικρό δαχτυλάκι
• little or nothing    ελάχιστα ή καθόλου, σχεδόν τίποτα
• little short of    που ελάχιστα υπολείπεται
• little to choose between    όχι και πολλά περιθώρια επιλογής
• little wonder    δεν είναι να απορείς
• make little of    αψηφώ, δεν πολυδίνω σημασία σε

Italiano (Italian)
poco, piccolo

idioms:

• a little bit    un poco
• a little bit of    un poco
• after a little    dopo un poco
• little by little    a poco a poco
• Little Dipper    Orsa Minore
• little finger    mignolo
• little or nothing    poco o niente
• little short of    poco meno di
• make little of    non preoccuparsi di

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - pequeno, baixo, pouco
adv. - pouco, ligeiramente
n. - pouco (m)

idioms:

• a little bit    um pouquinho, um momento
• a little bit of    um pouco de
• after a little    após alguns instantes
• little by little    pouco a pouco
• little finger    dedo (m) mínimo (Anat.)
• little or nothing    quase nada
• little short of    pequena quantidade
• make little of    não ajudar muito

Русский (Russian)
небольшое количество, маленький, незначительный, не массовый, мало

idioms:

• a little bit    немножко
• a little bit of    малая толика чего-л.
• after a little    через небольшой промежуток
• little by little    постепенно
• Little Dipper    Малая Медведица
• little finger    мизинец
• little or nothing    почти ничего
• little short of    почти, на грани
• make little of    не придавать значения чему-л., преуменьшать, плохо расслышать, не разглядеть

Español (Spanish)
adj. - pequeño, exiguo, chico, menor, menudo
det. - un poco
pron. - un poco
adv. - poco, nada, no demasiado, levemente, infrecuentemente, rara vez
n. - poco, pequeña escala, cerca, breve

idioms:

• a little    un poco
• a little bit    un poquito, un pedacito
• a little bit of a    un poquito de, un pellizco de, un poco de, un trocito de
• after a little    al poco tiempo
• little by little    poco a poco, paso a paso
• Little Dipper    Carro Menor (constelación), Osa Menor
• little finger    dedo meñique
• little or nothing    poco o nada, casi nada
• little short of    un poco escaso de
• little to choose between    vale tanto el uno como el otro, no hay gran diferencia entre
• little wonder    no tiene nada de extraño
• make little of    sacar poco provecho de, menospreciar, hacer caso omiso de, entender poco
• not a little    ni un poquito, nada
• of little consequence    sin la menor consecuencia

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - liten, (pl.) små, lill-, lilla-, småskuren, småsint, småaktig, futtig, lumpen, ömklig
adv. - lite, litet, föga, inte mycket
n. - litenhet

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
小的, 幼小的, 很少的, 家伙, 很少, 完全不, 稍微, 一点点, 一会儿, 少许

idioms:

• a little bit    有点, 稍...
• a little bit of    一点点...
• after a little    过了一会儿
• little by little    渐渐
• Little Dipper    小熊座
• little finger    小指
• little or nothing    简直没有
• little short of    简直不比...差
• little to choose between    选择不多
• little wonder    难怪
• make little of    不重视, 不理解

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 小的, 幼小的, 很少的
det. - 小的, 幼小的, 很少的
pron. - 傢伙
adv. - 很少, 完全不, 稍微
n. - 一點點, 一會兒, 少許

idioms:

• a little bit    有點, 稍...
• a little bit of    一點點...
• after a little    過了一會兒
• little by little    漸漸
• Little Dipper    小熊座
• little finger    小指
• little or nothing    簡直沒有
• little short of    簡直不比...差
• little to choose between    選擇不多
• little wonder    難怪
• make little of    不重視, 不理解

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 작은, 짧은, 약간의, 약한, 사소한, 옹졸한
det. - 거의 없는
pron. - 조금
adv. - 조금밖에 ~않다, 조금도~않다, 조금은, 다소
n. - 조금 , 다소, 약간의 거리, 얼마 안 되는 것

idioms:

• a little bit of    약간의
• make little of    얕보다 , 만만히 보다

idioms:

• little Rock    리틀 락 (알칸사스주의 주도)

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 小さい, かわいい, 少しはある, 小人数の, つまらない, 少ししかない, 短い, いくらかの
adv. - 少し
pron. - 少量, わずか

idioms:

• a little bird told me    ある人から聞いた
• a little bit    少し
• a little bit of    わずかな
• as little as    せめて
• little by little    少しずつ, 徐々に
• Little Dipper    小北斗星
• little finger    小指
• little or nothing    ほとんど…しない
• little short of    近い
• make little of    軽んずる, ほとんど理解しない

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) صغير, قليل العدد, واهن, ضعيف, ضيق, غير متحرر, ضئيل, قصير, وجيز, قزم, قصير القامه, تافه (ظرف) قليلا, البته, على الإطلاق, نادرا (الاسم) مقدار ضئيل, فترة قصيرة, مسافه قصيرة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮קטן, הכי קטן, בקנה-מידה קטן, קטנוני, קרוב, טפל, של ילד‬
det. - ‮מעט, מעט מאוד, קצת‬
pron. - ‮מעט, קצת, קצר‬
adv. - ‮במידה מועטה, בקושי, כלל לא‬
n. - ‮זמן-מה, מרחק קצר, כמות קטנה‬

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Little Tikes	Little Rock
The Little Prince	carol little