Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

less

[les]

Example Sentences Origin

We Buy All Pensions www.buyyourpension.com No Credit Required. All Pensions. Military, Police, Fire, Disability.

Cheap Cheap www.astarfurn.com/Bedrooms Low Prices on Bedroom Furniture Monthly Specials - Visit Us Today

Dictionary.com Free Toolbar Dictionary.com Define Less Instantly. Faster Page Loads With Fewer Ads.

Ads

adverb, a compar. of little with least as superl.

to a smaller extent, amount, or degree: less exact.

most certainly not (often preceded by much or still): He could barely pay for his own lodging, much less for that of his friend.

in any way different; other: He is nothing less than a thief.

adjective, a compar. of little with least as superl.

smaller in size, amount, degree, etc.; not so large, great, or much: less money; less speed.

lower in consideration, rank, or importance: no less a person than the manager.

fewer: less than a dozen.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Less is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

noun

a smaller amount or quantity: Hundreds of soldiers arrived, but less of them remained.

something inferior or not as important: He was tortured for less.

preposition

minus; without: a year less two days; six dollars less tax.

Idiom

10.

less than, by far short of being; not in the least; hardly at all: The job is less than perfect.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English lǣs (adv.), lǣssa (adj.); cognate with Old Frisian lês (adv.), lêssa (adj.). See least

Can be confused: fewer, less (see usage note at the current entry).

Synonyms
4. See small.

Usage note
Even though less has been used before plural nouns (less words; less men) since the time of King Alfred, many modern usage guides say that only fewer can be used in such contexts. Less, they say, should modify singular mass nouns (less sugar; less money) and singular abstract nouns (less honesty; less love). It should modify plural nouns only when they suggest combination into a unit, group, or aggregation: less than $50 (a sum of money); less than three miles (a unit of distance). EXPANDWith plural nouns specifying individuals or readily distinguishable units, the guides say that fewer is the only proper choice: fewer words; fewer men; no fewer than 31 of the 50 states.
Modern standard English practice does not reflect this distinction. When followed by than, less occurs at least as often as fewer in modifying plural nouns that are not units or groups, and the use of less in this construction is increasing in all varieties of English: less than eight million people; no less than 31 of the 50 states. When not followed by than, fewer is more frequent only in formal written English, and in this construction also the use of less is increasing: This year we have had less crimes, less accidents, and less fires than in any of the last five years.

COLLAPSE

Example Sentences

Psychiatrists are talking less and prescribing more.

Students seem to be spending less time studying than they used to.

In fact, cost-conscious consumers may start buying more fancy food than before, to make up for going out to restaurants less.

EXPAND

Psychiatrists are talking less and prescribing more.

Students seem to be spending less time studying than they used to.

In fact, cost-conscious consumers may start buying more fancy food than before, to make up for going out to restaurants less.

It will cost less and additional natural resources and energy won't be used to produce it.

City dwellers may handle pressure differently from those who live in less populated areas.

For protein, eat less beef and more pork, chicken and fish.

See how to get the look of built-in floating shelves, with less cost and more flexibility.

In parallel, the software started relying less on the manual, and more on its game experience.

Nations with more climatic disasters grew faster over the long run than the less disaster-prone.

Those obligations can keep faculty members from talking to one another, much less to their colleagues in other departments.

The company says production costs are kept to a minimum because they require less silicon.

If you painstakingly contemplate eating the food you're about to dig into, there's a good chance you'll eat less of it.

Anyhing to create less of an immunological impact would be wonderful.

In today's economy, spending less doesn't have to mean getting less.

Beware of the latest line in less lethal weapons: a scooter equipped with an air gun.

Exonerated defendants are less likely to have serious criminal records.

They had to wait tables for people who could be less than polite-people who sometimes reminded them of themselves.

Young people are more outward-looking and less traditional.

As a result, they are less responsive to their babies.

Nader ran to the roof of his apartment building, where he had a view of the towers less than two miles away.

It's less wasteful to purchase a small bottle, and the containers are recyclable.

Turns out wizards and knights seem far less noble when they're trying to steal your stuff.

The longer the lens, the less depth of field-in practice.

People judge alcohol drinkers as less intelligent.

Less well known is that he also painted in another medium, living organisms.

In dry form, they're usually less expensive than their organic counterparts.

Buying local doesn't always mean the purchase is less energy-intensive.

Smokers tend to be less happy than nonsmokers, and the effect is heighened the lower their economic status.

It's not clear to me whether ze thinks electric cars are less polluting than petrol-powered ones.

Fir plywood gives this home a warm look for less than standard wood paneling.

During the study farmers used smaller amounts pesticide because they saw less need.

Although some choice is undoubtedly better than none, more is not always better than less.

He told her it was a piece of reindeer bone, to make the coffee taste less bitter.

Because swimming isn't safe here, it gets much less crowded than other beaches in the area.

The organization sells treadle pumps through its own network of local distributors, usually for less than a hundred dollars.

More dust, less rain and even more dust can become a vicious cycle that ultimately creates increasingly more desert lands.

White seems to have been captivated by less digestible fare.

Americans use their bicycles for less than one percent of all urban trips.

Sleepy-looking less so by the second-offers him an elbow.

No one ever found any dead vultures, there were simply less and less of them.

Madagascar's giant jumping rats are less endangered than previously thought, new surveys suggest.

The birth of something less beastly could not be ruled out.

The less adventurous can view them from a boardwalk that winds through their nesting sites.

The cats are not transgenic animals-their genes have not been altered to make them less of an allergy risk.

The idea was that less words meant less thought and communication.

Less time in the kitchen may mean more time with the family, but not necessarily.

Less rain also means greater vulnerability to forest fires, further threatening the balance of the rain forest.

The operation known as hemispherectomy-where half the brain is removed-sounds too radical to ever consider, much less perform.

Shellfish are a far less dramatic prey but still an important part of the leopard seal's diet.

The ice elevation normally changes less than a tenth of that amount each year.

But some aspects of the buggies' design proved to be less than ideal.

Less brightness means less of the sun's energy is reflected back into space.

He found that the tighter connection, while less common, provides a much larger benefit.

Shielding buildings may soon become less expensive than that.

If the world hopes to feed its burgeoning population, irrigation must become less wasteful and more widespread.

See how to do more with less by emphasizing open spaces, organic materials, and the beauty of restraint.

Combing through a database of sleep-study volunteers, the researchers found two people who needed far less sleep than average.

For governments, the advent of electric cars means fuel-tax receipts will dwindle because drivers will buy less gasoline.

Many students pay less than full price thanks to financial.

To date, taxonomists have identified less than two million distinct species, mostly mammals and birds.

Test subjects who thought they'd taken a supplement made less healthful food and exercise choices than people who did.

He was impressive in motion and no less formidable when he was still.

You'll also cut down on oil changes because you get less residue.

People who sleep less appear to eat more the next day.

What they are getting is less taxes, higher tuition and less services.

The foreign parents tend to be less race and gender biased.

Come spring, healthier birds head home about a week sooner than their scrub-dwelling, less fit brethren.

Over the course of two weeks, the orangutans used even less energy than predicted.

Watching less television doesn't appear to change adult eating habits, but it does lead to a meaningful increase in activity.

Male professors are less accustomed to attracting attention because of their looks, and less comfortable with.

Modern medicine offers doctors a panoply of less invasive tools to thrust inside disease-stricken bodies.

Working memory, less developed in teens, also helps control emotions.

His aim was nothing less than an exhaustive record in watercolor.

These unique abodes are less tent and more reminiscent of a room at a luxury resort.

Because they burned more energy to run the same distance it indicates their bodies performed less efficiently after stretching.

One is efficiency: pursuing the same objectives at less cost.

It is well established in the research on higher education that women are less likely to achieve tenure than men.

It is better educated, highly urbanised, far more exposed to the outside world and much less patient.

Warm waters absorb less oxygen--which is bad news for the sea life that needs it.

Structural reforms are less important than talented teachers who are given the freedom to succeed.

Water early in the day, when there's less moisture loss due to heat evaporation and wind is less likely to blow water away.

The aid colleges are awarding is covering less of students' costs, the report shows.

As and when the market for structured finance revives, it will be smaller and less rewarding than before.

Despite their scale, each of the jets had come and gone within less than half a second.

Two of the paintings were later found in an unlocked car parked at a psychiatric facility, less than a mile from the museum.

Now, as summer approaches, many reservoirs are still less than half full.

My theory is that beer+popcorn=student essays seeming less painful to grade.

The more precise and unusual the request, the less people were able to resist it.

The less efficient you are, the more waste you produce.

What happens in the brain when you hear an accent--and why you are less likely to trust the speaker.

Maybe you're pleased that it cost less than a bottle of shampoo.

The simple two-cycle kinds have more efficient engines and require less mechanical know-how to stay in running order.

Some function on less power than others, which in turn saves money on utility.

Narrowly oval, green to gray-green leaves that reach less than an inch long clothe the random-growing.

Spring offers a less touristy experience, good weather, and more bang for the buck.

It makes us better adjusted, smarter and less stressed.

Eruptions of lava built up the volcano until it reached the sea surface less than a.

Single nuts are more or less enclosed in a cuplike cap.

Less is known about two other local orca types-transients and offshores-because of their less predictable ways.

There is little reason to fear a decade of stagnation, much less a depression.

Less often remarked upon, but more significant, is the important role that the ocean plays in our lives.

Today's tender turkeys take much less time to cook than tougher birds of yore.

The better it does its job, the less likely you are to stay awake to appreciate it.

These battery-driven, mechanical devices produce nothing less than the call of the wild.

Wiry stems make the plants less subject to breakage than petunias, and tobacco budworms seem uninterested in foliage and flowers.

Any diesel engine can burn it with less soot than regular diesel.

Research shows that lower-income and minority families often have less access.

The farmed fish, while typically less expensive than wild.

So far, the experience has made me want to work less and enjoy life more.

In less than ten years it has rapidly reached commercial extinction due to overcollection for the international pet trade.

New device quells blazes with less risk to firefighters.

Since this method cuts right through leaves, it's best done on small-leafed plants, where damage is less noticeable.

Here, game isn't too plentiful, so they have to be more clever-and less picky.

And the heavier the accent, the less believable they were perceived to be.

The screen siren might have added that another, less dazzling.

While their foliage and overall appearance are somewhat less than striking, many gardeners consider the.

With many alternate routes, streets can be narrower, making them safer to cross and less land intensive.

Commercial airlines are testing plant-derived jet fuels that do less damage to the environment.

Conversely, words that are smaller appear less frequently.

It might have been less work with a professional contractor or architect to oversee the project.

Explain to the students that they will be conducting research to find out about some of the less obvious benefits of trees.

Imagining the act of eating can trick you into eating less.

Her son always claimed credit for something less than that: putting the hole in the doughnut.

Tough, carefree shrubs may not be bothered by such intrusion, but less rugged individuals may be weakened.

Population is growing, leaving less and less to eat.

Leptin puts a double whammy on hunger by making food less rewarding.

RVs offer the flexibility to escape often and make memories for less than you think.

The bigger the container, the less frequently you'll have to water in hot weather, and the more room roots have to run.

Moist places, such as streamsides, in more or less open forest or in coastal scrub.

Overindulging in wine or spirits often makes the following morning much less enjoyable.

Early reluctance to use stamps actually hinged on something more subtle but no less important.

Single nuts are more or less enclosed in a cuplike.

As more water was diverted for agriculture, less and less river water flowed into the sea.

Push the pedal, and the brain is less able to rewire itself.

It's more or less impossible to define hysteria in a way that a physician today would find acceptable.

Most of the species of this genera, though less familiar, are choice plants for landscape use.

Few if any fish survive in acid lakes, so loons have less food for their young.

Preparing notes and bibliographies in a consistent style has long been one of the less glamorous tasks of academic writing.

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged

an adjective suffix meaning “without” (childless; peerless), and in adjectives derived from verbs, indicating failure or inability to perform or be performed (resistless; tireless).

Origin:
Middle English -les, Old English -lēas, special use of lēas free from, without, false; cognate with Old Norse lauss, German los, loose

adjective

small in size; not big; not large; tiny: a little desk in the corner of the room.

short in duration; not extensive; short; brief: a little while.

small in number: a little group of scientists.

small in amount or degree; not much: little hope.

of a certain amount; appreciable (usually preceded by a): We're having a little difficulty.

EXPAND

being such on a small scale: little farmers.

younger or youngest: He's my little brother.

not strong, forceful, or loud; weak: a little voice.

small in consideration, importance, position, affluence, etc.: little discomforts; tax reductions to help the little fellow.

10.

mean, narrow, or illiberal: a little mind.

11.

endearingly small or considered as such: Bless your little heart!

12.

amusingly small or so considered: a funny little way of laughing.

13.

contemptibly small, petty, mean, etc., or so considered: filthy little political tricks.

COLLAPSE

adverb

14.

not at all (used before a verb): He little knows what awaits him.

15.

in only a small amount or degree; not much; slightly: a little known work of art; little better than a previous effort.

16.

seldom; rarely; infrequently: We see each other very little.

noun

17.

a small amount, quantity, or degree: They did little to make him comfortable. If you want some ice cream, there's a little in the refrigerator.

18.

a short distance: It's down the road a little.

19.

a short time: Stay here for a little.

Idioms

20.

in little, on a small scale; in miniature: a replica in little of Independence Hall.

21.

little by little, by small degrees; gradually: The water level rose little by little.

22.

make little of,

belittle: to make little of one's troubles.

to understand or interpret only slightly: Scholars made little of the newly discovered text.

23.

not a little, to a great extent; very much; considerably: It tired me not a little to stand for three hours.

24.

think little of, to treat casually; regard as trivial: They think little of driving 50 miles to see a movie.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English, Old English lȳtel (lȳt few, small + -el diminutive suffix), cognate with Dutch luttel, Old High German luzzil, Old Norse lītill

Related forms

lit·tlish

[lit-l-ish, lit-lish] , adjective

lit·tle·ness, noun

Synonyms
1–4. tiny, teeny, wee. Little, diminutive, minute, small refer to that which is not large or significant. Little (the opposite of big) is very general, covering size, extent, number, quantity, amount, duration, or degree: a little boy; a little time. Small (the opposite of large and of great) can many times be used interchangeably with little, but is especially applied to what is limited or below the average in size: small oranges. Diminutive denotes (usually physical) size that is much less than the average or ordinary; it may suggest delicacy: the baby's diminutive fingers; diminutive in size but autocratic in manner. Minute suggests that which is so tiny it is difficult to discern, or that which implies attentiveness to the smallest details: a minute quantity; a minute exam.

Link To less

Collins

World English Dictionary

less (lɛs)

—*determiner*
1.	a. the comparative of little : less sugar; less spirit than before
	b. (as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural): she has less than she needs; the less you eat, the less you want
2.	(usually preceded by no) lower in rank or importance: no less a man than the president; St James the Less
3.	informal no less used to indicate surprise or admiration, often sarcastic, at the preceding statement: she says she's been to Italy, no less
4.	less of to a smaller extent or degree: we see less of John these days; less of a success than I'd hoped

—*adv*
5.	the comparative of little (sense 1): she walks less than she should; less quickly; less beautiful
6.	much less, still less used to reinforce a negative: we don't like it, still less enjoy it
7.	think less of to have a lower opinion of

—*prep*
8.	subtracting; minus: three weeks less a day

usage Less should not be confused with fewer. Less refers strictly only to quantity and not to number: there is less water than before. Fewer means smaller in number: there are fewer people than before

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

less

O.E. læs (adv.), læssa (adj.), comp. of læs "small;" from P.Gmc. *laisiz "smaller," from PIE base *loiso- "small" (cf. Lith. liesas "thin"). Formerly also "younger," as a translation of L. minor, a sense now obsolete except in James the Less. Used as a comparative of

EXPAND

little, but not related to it. Lesser (mid-15c.) is a double comparative, "a barbarous corruption of less, formed by the vulgar from the habit of terminating comparatives in -er." [Johnson].

-less

the suffix meaning "lacking" is from O.E. -leas, from leas "free (from), devoid (of), false, feigned," from P.Gmc. *lausaz (cf. Du. -loos, Ger. -los "less," O.N. lauss "loose, free, vacant, dissolute," M.Du. los, Ger. los "loose, free," Goth. laus "empty, vain"). Related to loose and lease.

little

O.E. lytel (related to lyt "little, few," from P.Gmc. *luti), from W.Gmc. *lutila- (cf. Du. luttel, O.H.G. luzzil, Ger. lützel, Goth. leitils), from PIE *leud- "small." "Often synonymous with small, but capable of emotional implications which small is not" [OED]. Phrase the little woman "wife" attested

from 1795. Little people "the faeries" is from 1726; as "children," it is attested from 1752; as "ordinary people" it is attested from 1827. Little Neck clams (1884) are so called for Little Neck, Long Island, a "neck" of land on the island's North Shore. Little by little is from late 15c. (litylle be litille).

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

less

In addition to the idiom beginning with less, also see couldn't care less; in (less than) no time; more or less; much less.