Meaning of small in English

small

adjective

/smɔːl/ us

/smɑːl/

small adjective (LITTLE)

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little in size or amount when compared with what is typical or average:

a small dog/house/car/country

I'd rather live in a small town than a big city.

Would you like a large or small cola with your burger?

Ella is the smallest girl in her class.

too small for That jacket's too small for you.

small for He's small for his age.

small number Only a small number of applicants are successful.

pitifully small The number of women in parliament is pitifully (= extremely) small.

in small quantities Liqueurs are usually drunk in small quantities.

Synonyms

diminutive 
dinky  informal
exiguous formal
infinitesimal formal
itsy-bitsy humorous
little  (SMALL)
microscopic informal humorous
midget 
mini-
miniature 
minute
teensy informal
teeny informal
wee  Scottish English or informal
weeny UK informal

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

not great in size, amount, etc.

smallI live in a small town.
littleShe's a good little girl.
a littleI just want a little ice cream.
a little (bit)I was a little bit upset that she ate the last piece of cake.
tinyHis body was covered in tiny red spots.

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More examplesFewer examples

We're having a small drinks party next Thursday.
The apartments are very small, which is fine for one person.
The company was still very small when I first joined.
We spent our holidays in a small French town.
The house has a large back garden, and a small front garden.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Small

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Small in number and quantity

small adjective (YOUNG)

A small child is a very young child that is older than a baby:

Taking care of small children can be very tiring.

More examplesFewer examples

They have two small children.
A small child stood sullenly by her side.
Having small children really restricts your social life.
With four small children running around, the place is a madhouse.
Is this film appropriate for small children?

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Describing people who are young

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small adjective (LIMITED ACTIVITY)

[ before noun ]

limited in the amount of an activity:

The government should give more help to small businessmen (= people whose businesses are of a limited size).

small eater Chris is a small eater so he won't want much.

in a small way If you can help us in a small way (= to a limited degree) it would be greatly appreciated.

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Small in number and quantity

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small adjective (NOT IMPORTANT)

not very important or not likely to cause problems:

She just made a couple of small mistakes in the test.

I have a small problem I would like to discuss with you.

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Of little or less importance

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small adjective (ASHAMED)

ashamed or weak:

feel small Talking to her makes me feel small.

look small He's always trying to make me look small in front of my boss.

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Of little or less importance

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small adjective (LETTER SIZE)

[ before noun ]

Small letters are not capital letters:

The poet e e cummings sometimes wrote his name with small letters.

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Lettering & alphabets

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Related word

smallness

Idioms

grateful/thankful for small mercies
it's a small world
a small fortune
small wonder
with a small "c", "d", etc.

small

adverb

/smɔːl/ us

/smɑːl/

in a small size:

The instructions are printed so small I can hardly read them.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Small

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small

noun

/smɔːl/ us

/smɑːl/

small noun (BODY)

the small of your back

the middle of the lower back:

in the small of your back I have a pain in the small of my back.

small noun (UNDERWEAR)

smalls [ plural ] UK old-fashioned informal

underwear, especially when being washed or about to be washed:

Do you have any smalls that need washing?

(Definition of small from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

small | American Dictionary

small

adjective

/smɔl/

small adjective (LESS)

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[ -er/-est only ]

not big; less in size or amount than is average:

a small business

small lunches

He’s small for his age.

Those jackets come in small, medium, and large sizes.

[ -er/-est only ]

Small (abbreviation S) is a size of clothing or other product that is smaller than average:

Those sweaters are available in small, medium, and large (sizes).

small of your back

The small of your back is the back below the waist where it curves in slightly.

small adjective (YOUNG)

[ -er/-est only ]

(of children) very young:

His mother died when he was small.

small adjective (LACKING IMPORTANCE)

[ -er/-est only ]

not having much importance or effect:

a small problem

a small part in a movie

small adjective (LETTER SIZE)

[ not gradable ]

(of a letter of the alphabet) lowercase

Idiom

a small fortune

small

adverb [ -er/-est only ]

/smɔl/

small adverb [-er/-est only] (IN SMALL SIZE)

in small pieces, or in a size or amount that is less than average:

The ingredients are printed so small I can hardly read them.

(Definition of small from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

small | Business English

small

adjective

/smɔːl/ us

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limited in size, amount, activity, etc.:

Loans help small firms fund training.

The company made a small profit last year.

not very important or likely to cause problems:

Verna said the review team would not mire itself in such small details.

In the construction industry, small mistakes can become multi-million dollar problems.

(Definition of small from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of small

small

In general, the laser-heated plasma volume is smaller than the cluster plume.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Small lanes were gradually added to demarcate different sections and also to connect them as an organic whole.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Sometimes the cremated remains are placed in an urn, but more commonly they are scattered in a small pit or placed in an organic container.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It is preserved as an impression, with a small amount of organic material remaining.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These are now seen to be only a small element of a complex system driven by concerns other than the purely cognitive.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

People from this region have produced a relatively small number of music technology-related publications.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These blocks will be returned after extraction of small diameter cores of tissue for the production of tissue micro-arrays.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The stage was cramped; the audience capacity was small; and the new theatre represented a severe financial liability to a very shaky opera company.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

However, the following proposition shows that the constant 1/6 in the density assumption cannot be replaced with a smaller constant.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The numbers illustrate that nationally there have been two strong parties and other very small ones.

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The large numbers of small parties have only rarely brought about a crisis of governability, however.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The large number of small parties is usually explained in two ways.

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The connection weights are initialized to small random values.

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In general, a random orientation can not be shown to balance each of a large number of small cocircuits.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The wire array geometry was identical to that of the small-radius array, except 24 wires were mounted at a radius of only 5 mm.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

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