Hypertext Webster Gateway: "little"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Little \Lit"tle\, n.
1. That which is little; a small quantity, amount, space, or
the like.

There are many expressions, which carrying with them
no clear ideas, are like to remove but little of my
ignorance. --Locke.

2. A small degree or scale; miniature. `` His picture in
little.'' --Shak.

A little, to or in a small degree; to a limited
extent; somewhat; for a short time. `` Stay a
little.'' --Shak.

The painter flattered her a little. --Shak.

{By little and little}, or {Little by little}, by slow
degrees; piecemeal; gradually.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Little \Lit"tle\, a. [The regular comparative of this word is
wanting, its place being supplied by less, or, rarely,
lesser. See {Lesser}. For the superlative least is used, the
regular form, littlest, occurring very rarely, except in some
of the English provinces, and occasionally in colloquial
language. `` Where love is great, the littlest doubts are
fear.'' --Shak.] [OE. litel, lutel, AS. l?tel, l[=i]tel, l?t;
akin to OS. littil, D. luttel, LG. l["u]tt, OHG. luzzil, MHG.
l["u]tzel; and perh. to AS. lytig deceitful, lot deceit,
Goth. liuts deceitful, lut?n to deceive; cf. also Icel.
l[=i]till little, Sw. liten, Dan. liden, lille, Goth.
leitils, which appear to have a different root vowel.]
1. Small in size or extent; not big; diminutive; -- opposed
to {big} or {large}; as, a little body; a little animal; a
little piece of ground; a little hill; a little distance;
a little child.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Little \Lit"tle\, adv.
In a small quantity or degree; not much; slightly; somewhat;
-- often with a preceding it. `` The poor sleep little.''
--Otway.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Little \Lit"tle\, a.

{Little Englander}, an Englishman opposed to territorial
expansion of the British Empire. See {Antiimperialism},
above. Hence:

{Little Englandism}.

{Little-neck clam}, or {Little neck} (Zo["o]l.), the quahog,
or round clam.

{Little peach}, a disease of peaches in which the fruit is
much dwarfed, and the leaves grow small and thin. The
cause is not known.

{Little Rhod"y}, Rhode Island; -- a nickname alluding to its
small size. It is the smallest State of the United States.

{Little Sisters of the Poor} (R. C. Ch.), an order of women
who care for old men and women and infirm poor, for whom
special houses are built. It was established at St.
Servan, Britany, France, in 1840, by the Abb['e] Le
Pailleur.

{Little slam} (Bridge Whist), the winning of 12 out of the 13
tricks. It counts 20 points on the honor score. Living
picture \Liv"ing pic"ture\
A tableau in which persons take part; also, specif., such a
tableau as imitating a work of art.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

little
adj 1: limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude
or extent; "a little dining room"; "a little house";
"a small car"; "a little (or small) group"; " a small
voice" [syn: {small}] [ant: {large}, {large}]
2: (quantifier used with mass nouns) small in quantity or
degree; not much or almost none or (with "a) at least
some; "little rain fell in May"; "gave it little thought";
"little hope remained"; "little time is left"; "we still
have little money"; "a little hope remained"; "a little
time isleft" [syn: {little(a)}] [ant: {much(a)}]
3: of short duration or distance; "a brief stay in the
country"; "in a little while"; "it's a little way away"
[syn: {brief}]
4: not fully grown; "what a big little boy you are"; "small
children" [syn: {small}]
5: (informal terms) small and of little importance; "a fiddling
sum of money"; "a footling gesture"; "our worries are
lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at
war"; "a little (or small) matter"; "Mickey Mouse
regulations"; "a dispute over niggling details"; "limited
to petty enterprises"; "piffling efforts"; "giving a
police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it
seems to be a picayune infraction" [syn: {fiddling}, {footling},
{lilliputian}, {Mickey Mouse}, {niggling}, {piddling}, {piffling},
{petty}, {picayune}, {trivial}]
6: (of a voice) faint; "a little voice"; "a still small voice"
[syn: {small}]
7: younger brother or sister; "little brother" [syn: {little(a)},
{younger}] [ant: {big(a)}]
8: lowercase; "little a"; "small a"; "e.e.cummings's poetry is
written all in minuscule letters" [syn: {minuscule}, {small}]
9: small in a way that arouses feelings (of tenderness or its
opposite depending on the context); "a nice little job";
"bless your little heart"; "my dear little mother"; "a
sweet little deal"; "I'm tired of your petty little
schemes"; "filthy little tricks"; "what a nasty little
situation"
n : a small amount or duration; "he accepted the little they
gave him"
adv : not much; "he talked little about his family"

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