Little
WordNet
adjective
(1) 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"
(2) (informal) 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"
"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"
(3) 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"
(4) Of short duration or distance
"A brief stay in the country"
"In a little while"
"It's a little way away"
(5) (of a voice) faint
"A little voice"
"A still small voice"
(6) Lowercase
"Little a"
"Small a"
"E.e.cummings's poetry is written all in minuscule letters"
(7) (of children and animals) young, immature
"What a big little boy you are"
"Small children"
adverb
(8) Not much
"He talked little about his family"
noun
(9) A small amount or duration
"He accepted the little they gave him"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
, from West Germanic *lutila-. Cognate with Dutch luttel, German lützel/luetzel, West Frisian lyts, L.G. lütt, O.H.G. luzzil, M.H.G. lützel, O.E. ; and perh. to O.E. lytig "deceitful, lot deceit", Goth. liuts deceitful, lutjan "to deceive"; cf. also Icel. lítill "little", Sw. liten, Dan. liden, lille, Goth. leitils, which appear to have a different root vowel. More at lout
Adjective
- Small.
- This is a little table.
- It's of little importance.
- Very young.
- Did he tell you any embarrassing stories about when she was little?
- That's the biggest little kid I've ever seen.
- Younger.
- This is my little sister.
Adverb
- Not much.
- This is a little known fact.
- She spoke little and listened less.
Determiner
( less, least)
- A small amount
- There is little water left.
Usage notes
- Little is used with uncountable nouns. Few is used with plural countable nouns.