small
Pronunciation: /smɔːl/
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
plural noun
(smalls)
Phrases
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feel (or look) small
- feel (or look) contemptibly weak or insignificant: they had succeeded in making him feel small
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in a small way
- on a small scale: in a small way his life has been improved
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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.’
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no small ——
- a good deal of ——: a matter of no small consequence
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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)]
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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

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