adjective | noun
smallsmall1 /smɔl/ ●●● S1 W1 adjective 1
NOT LARGE not large in size or amount OPP large: Rick has a small car. This T-shirt is too small for me. There’s been a small increase in food prices. He lent his brother a small amount of money.THESAURUSlittle – small in size: Her shirt had little hearts on the front.petite – small, short, and thin in an attractive way. Used about women and girls: Chuck is 6 feet tall, but he has always dated petite women.compact – small, but comfortable, convenient, or easy to carry. Used about cars and other products that usually come in larger sizes: Compact cars are much easier to park.tiny – very small: She was holding a tiny baby in her arms.miniature – very small. Used about things that are normally a larger size: He makes miniature furniture for dollhouses.diminutive formal – very small. Used especially about people: A diminutive man with a bow tie stood behind the desk.minute/minuscule – extremely small: Even in minute amounts, the chemical is very harmful.microscopic – extremely small and impossible to see without a scientific tool called a microscope: The microscopic cells in your body that absorb food are called microvilli. → see Word Choice at little12NOT MANY PEOPLE/THINGS consisting of only a few people or things SYN large: The classes are small and the people are friendly. I went camping with a small group of friends. Only a small number of cases were affected.3NOT IMPORTANT a small problem, job, mistake, etc. is not important or severe: I noticed a small mistake on page 3. We made only a few small changes. There’s a small problem.4NOT WORTH MUCH MONEY not costing a large amount of money: His coworkers gave him a small gift when he left.5YOUNG a small child is young: She has three small children.► see thesaurus at young16a small business/firm/company etc. a business that does not have many employees, and usually deals with a limited number of products or activities7small farmer/investor someone whose activities do not involve large amounts of land or money8a small fortune a lot of money: It’s going to cost us a small fortune to fix the roof.9in a/some small way if something helps, affects, influences, etc. something else in a small way, it has an effect, but not an important one: It was good to feel we helped in some small way.10feel/look small to feel or look stupid, unimportant, or ashamed: She loved to make me look small.11in no small measure/part/degree to a great degree: The success of the project is due in no small measure to you.12no small achievement/task/feat etc. a large achievement: Getting the two sides to talk to each other is no small achievement.13LETTER small letters are the smaller of the two forms that we use, for example “b” rather than “B” SYN lower case14VOICE a small voice is quiet and soft: “It still hurts,” he said in a small voice.15small potatoes something that is not very important, especially when compared with something else: Four thousand dollars is small potatoes for a big company.16(it’s a) small world spoken said when you are surprised to learn that someone knows a person who you know, goes to a place where you go, etc.: “Did you know David works with my wife?” “Really? Small world.”[Origin: Old English smæl] → see also (it’s) no/small/little wonder at wonder2 (2)—small adverb: He writes so small I can’t read it.—smallness noun [uncountable] adjective | noun
smallsmall2 noun the small of somebody’s back the lower part of someone’s back where it curves in, just above the buttocks