Meaning & Definition of Little in English

1. A small amount or duration

• "He accepted the little they gave him"

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"

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"

3. (of children and animals) young, immature

• "What a big little boy you are"

• "Small children"

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"

5. (of a voice) faint

• "A little voice"

• "A still small voice"

6. Low in stature

• Not tall

• "He was short and stocky"

• "Short in stature"

• "A short smokestack"

• "A little man"

7. Lowercase

• "Little a"

• "Small a"

• "E.e.cummings's poetry is written all in minuscule letters"

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"

1. Not much

• "He talked little about his family"