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small

Pronunciation: /smɔːl/

Translate small | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of small

adjective

  • 1of a size that is less than normal or usual:the room was small and quiet the small hill that sheltered the house
  • not great in amount, number, strength, or power:a rather small amount of money
  • not fully grown or developed; young:as a small boy, he spent his days either reading or watching cricket
  • used of the first letter of a word that has both a general and a specific use to show that in this case the general use is intended:they are diehard conservatives, with a small c
  • 2insignificant; unimportant:these are small points
  • (of a business or its owner) operating on a modest scale:a small farmer
  • archaic low or inferior in rank or position; socially undistinguished: at dinner, some of the smaller neighbours were invited

noun

(smalls)
  • 1British informal small items of clothing, especially underwear.
  • 2 [treated as singular] West Indian a gratuity or small gift of money.

adverb

  • into small pieces:cut the okra up small
  • in a small size:you shouldn’t write so small

Phrases

feel (or look) small

feel (or look) contemptibly weak or insignificant: they had succeeded in making him feel small

in a small way

on a small scale:in a small way his life has been improved

it is (or what) a small world

used to express surprise at meeting an acquaintance or discovering a personal connection in a distant place or an unexpected context: ‘Fancy him being your solicitor. It’s a small world.’

no small ——

a good deal of ——:a matter of no small consequence

small is beautiful

used, especially in environmentalism, to express the belief that something small-scale is better than a large-scale equivalent.
[the title of a book by E. F. Schumacher (1973)]

the small of the back

the part of a person’s back where the spine curves in at the level of the waist.

small potatoes

informal something insignificant or unimportant:her business was small potatoes beside his empire

small profits and quick returns

the policy of a cheap shop which relies on low prices and a large turnover.

the small screen

television as a medium: his own career as an actor began on the small screen

small wonder

not very surprising:it’s small wonder that her emotions had see-sawed

Derivatives

smallish

adjective

smallness

noun

Origin:

Old English smæl, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch smal and German schmal

small in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of small in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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