little

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“
He pressed her closer to him, but he remained silent for several seconds At last, "Chris," he said, "will it comfort you to know that what you call a little is to me the greatest thing on earth His voice was deep and very quiet, yet a tremor went through her at his words That's just what frightens me," she said It shouldn't frighten you," he said.

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Definitions (55)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (15)

  1. adjective Small in size: a little dining room. See Synonyms at small.
  2. adjective Short in extent or duration; brief: There is little time left.
  3. adjective Small in quantity or degree: little money.
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Examples (50)

  • Even a little might be all it would take to push us over the brink from no fire to fire The dune trudge was only two kilometers, but seemed longer. —  AnalogSFF,June2007
  • The only thing which held them back a little was his position at the Court. —  Jean-Christophe, Vol. I
  • The only thing that could muck things up for Jerram a little are the candidacies of Jim Farho and Crystal Rhoades. —  Leavenworth Street - the talk of Nebraska politics
  • Down a little is my ribbon for Steve, yeah that is staying. —  The FlipFlop Mamma
  • Softening the blow a little is the presence of Sergei Gonchar, but he injured his shoulder over the weekend and could miss time. —  Tsn.ca Top Stories RSS
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old English lȳtel.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. from Middle English litel, litil, lytel, litle, lutel, from Anglo-Saxon lytel, litel = Old Saxon luttil = Dutch luttel = Middle Low German luttel = Old High German luzil, luzzil, Middle High German German dial. lützel = (with a different base līt.-, instead of lut- as in the preceding forms) Icelandic lītill = Danish lille = Swedish lille, lilla = Gothic (Moesogothic) leitils, little; also without the suffix -el, Middle English lit, lyt, from Anglo-Saxon lyt = Old Saxon lut = D. (diminutive) lutje = Low German lüt, diminutive lütje = Icelandic lītt (adverb) = Swedish liten, litet = Danish liden, lidet, lidt (adverb), little (cf. English dial. lite, from Middle English lite, lyte, abbreviation of litel, lytel, little, etc.); root unknown. The word is connected by Skeat with Anglo-Saxon lytig, deceitful (from lot, deceit; cf. Gothic (Moesogothic) liuts, deceitful, lutōn, betray), as if the sense ‘little’ in size were derived from the sense of ‘little’ in spirit, ‘mean,’ ‘base’; but this is improbable in itself, and no such transition or connection of sense appears in Anglo-Saxon use.
  2. from Middle English litel, litil, lytel, etc., from Anglo-Saxon lytel, adverb, properly neuter accusative of the adjective: see little, adjective and n.
  3. from Middle English litelen, lytelen, lutelen, lutlen, from Anglo-Saxon lytlian, become or make little, from lytel, little: see little, adjective
 

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/ˈlɪtl/
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