little meaning and definition

LITTLE noun

Definition of little (noun)

1. a small amount or duration
   • "he accepted the little they gave him"

LITTLE adjective

Definition of little (adjective)

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"
   • synonyms: small
   • antonym: big
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 time is left"; "we still have little money"; "a little hope remained"; "there's slight chance that it will work"; "there's a slight chance it will work"
   • synonyms: slight
   • antonym: much
3. (of children and animals) young, immature
   • "what a big little boy you are"; "small children"
   • synonyms: small
4. (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"
   • synonyms: fiddling, footling, lilliputian, niggling, petty, picayune, piddling, piffling, trivial
5. (of a voice) faint
   • "a little voice"; "a still small voice"
   • synonyms: small
6. low in stature; not tall
   • "he was short and stocky"; "short in stature"; "a short smokestack"; "a little man"
   • synonyms: short
   • antonym: tall
7. lowercase
   • "little a"; "small a"; "e.e.cummings's poetry is written all in minuscule letters"
   • synonyms: minuscule, small
8. 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"

LITTLE adverb

Definition of little (adverb)

1. not much
   • "he talked little about his family"