small fry
n. Small children. Young or small fish. Persons or things regarded as unimportant.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
small fry
- n.
anything or anyone small or unimportant. (Fry are juvenile fish.) : Don't worry about the small fry. You have to please the fat-cats.
- n.
small children. : The small fries have eaten and are getting ready for bed.
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Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Idioms & Phrases
small fry
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Young children, as in This show is not suitable for small fry.
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Persons of little importance or influence, as in She wasn't about to invite the Washington small fry to the reception. Both usages allude to fry in the sense of "young or small fish." [Late 1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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