The Collaborative International Dictionary
Little \Lit"tle\ (l[i^]t"t'l), a. [The regular comparative and superlative of this word, littler and littlest, are often used as comparatives of the sense small; but in the sense few, less, or, rarely, lesser is the proper comparative and least is the superlative. See Lesser. The regular form, littlest, occurs also in some of the English provinces, and occasionally in colloquial language. `` Where love is great, the littlest doubts are fear.'' --Shak.] [OE. litel, lutel, AS. l[=y]tel, l[=i]tel, l[=y]t; akin to OS. littil, D. luttel, LG. l["u]tt, OHG. luzzil, MHG. l["u]tzel; and perh. to AS. lytig deceitful, lot deceit, Goth. liuts deceitful, lut[=o]n to deceive; cf. also Icel. l[=i]till little, Sw. liten, Dan. liden, lille, Goth. leitils, which appear to have a different root vowel.]
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Small in size or extent; not big; diminutive; -- opposed to big or large; as, a little body; a little animal; a little piece of ground; a little hill; a little distance; a little child.
He sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
--Luke xix. 3. -
Short in duration; brief; as, a little sleep.
Best him enough: after a little time, I'll beat him too.
--Shak. -
Small in quantity or amount; not much; as, a little food; a little air or water.
Conceited of their little wisdoms, and doting upon their own fancies.
--Barrow. -
Small in dignity, power, or importance; not great; insignificant; contemptible.
When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes?
--I Sam. xv. 17. -
Small in force or efficiency; not strong; weak; slight; inconsiderable; as, little attention or exertion;little effort; little care or diligence.
By sad experiment I know How little weight my words with thee can find.
--Milton. -
Small in extent of views or sympathies; narrow; shallow; contracted; mean; illiberal; ungenerous.
The long-necked geese of the world that are ever hissing dispraise, Because their natures are little.
--Tennyson.Little chief. (Zo["o]l.) See Chief hare.
Little Englander, an Englishman opposed to territorial expansion of the British Empire. See Antiimperialism, above. Hence:
Little Englandism.
Little finger, the fourth and smallest finger of the hand.
Little go (Eng. Universities), a public examination about the middle of the course, which is less strict and important than the final one; -- called also smalls. Cf. Great go, under Great.
--Thackeray.Little hours (R. C. Ch.), the offices of prime, tierce, sext, and nones. Vespers and compline are sometimes included.
Little-neck clam, or Little neck (Zo["o]l.), the quahog, or round clam.
Little ones, young children.
The men, and the women, and the little ones.
--Deut. ii. 34.Little peach, a disease of peaches in which the fruit is much dwarfed, and the leaves grow small and thin. The cause is not known.
Little Rhod"y, Rhode Island; -- a nickname alluding to its small size. It is the smallest State of the United States.
Little Sisters of the Poor (R. C. Ch.), an order of women who care for old men and women and infirm poor, for whom special houses are built. It was established at St. Servan, Britany, France, in 1840, by the Abb['e] Le Pailleur.
Little slam (Bridge Whist), the winning of 12 out of the 13 tricks. It counts 20 points on the honor score. Contrasted with grand slam.
Wiktionary
n. (plural of little one English) (A term of endearment toward children.)
Usage examples of "little ones".
They're always fun, big ones the size of our van and little ones no bigger than a pig.
Sara paused a moment to see the little ones lifted up and kissed and the bigger ones bent over and kissed also.
She grew fonder and fonder of Becky, and she used to look forward to the two mornings a week when she went into the schoolroom to give the little ones their French lesson.
So they looked at big ones and little ones--at dolls with black eyes and dolls with blue--at dolls with brown curls and dolls with golden braids, dolls dressed and dolls undressed.
The little ones, who were accustomed to being disdained and ordered out of the way by mature ladies aged ten and twelve, were never made to cry by this most envied of them all.
As fast as the toys were mended, they were put carefully away in a certain drawer which was to furnish forth a Christmas-tree for all the poor children of the neighborhood, that being the way the Plumfield boys celebrated the birthday of Him who loved the poor and blessed the little ones.
Why, last time we traded I had to pay two cents a dozen, and then got little ones.
As this resulted in scares of all sorts among the boys, Tommy's walking in his sleep on the shed roof, and a general state of nervousness in the little ones, it was forbidden, and they fell back on more harmless amusements.
They got twelve bushels, counting little ones and all, and sold them to Mr.
Jo looked sober when she heard of the division of the party, and sent Franz back with Toby to find and bring the little ones home.
If it doesn't, even Sooleawa and the little ones will die in such pain .
He recoiled instantly after touching it once, with the little ones leaping back and screaming as he did so.