little
- adj.小的;(用在形容词的后面表示喜爱或厌恶，尤指屈尊俯就地)可爱的，可怜的，讨厌的;短的;微不足道的;幼小的;年幼的;比较小的
- det./pron.(与不可数名词连用)不多的;(与不可数名词连用)少量的，一些
- adv.一点;少量;少许;不多;略微;稍许
- n.小;一点点;利特尔
最高级： least 比较级： less 派生词： littleness n.
littleadj.
小的；比较小的
not big; small; smaller than others
a little house
小房子
a little group of tourists
一小批游客
a little old lady
一位小老太太
the classic little black dress
经典式样的黑色小连衣裙
‘Which do you want?’ ‘I'll take the little one.’
“你要哪一个？”“我要那个小的。”
She gave a little laugh.
她笑了一笑。
We should manage, with a little bit of luck.
我们只要有一点点运气就能应付过去。
Here's a little something (= a small present) for your birthday.
这是送给你的生日小礼物。
（用在形容词的后面表示喜爱或厌恶，尤指屈尊俯就地）可爱的，可怜的，讨厌的
used after an adjective to show affection or dislike, especially in a patronizing way (= one that suggests that you think you are better than sb)
The poor little thing ! It's lost its mother.
这可怜的小家伙！没有了妈妈。
What a nasty little man!
多么令人讨厌的家伙！
She's a good little worker.
她是个讨人喜欢的工人。
He'd become quite the little gentleman.
他成了颇有风度的绅士了。
年幼的；幼小的
young
a little boy/girl
小男孩 / 女孩
my little brother/sister (= younger brother/sister)
我的弟弟 / 妹妹
I lived in America when I was little.
我小时候生活在美国。
短的；近的；短暂的
short
A little while later the phone rang.
过了一小会儿电话响了起来。
Shall we walk a little way?
我们走一小段路好吗？
微不足道的；不严重的
not important; not serious
I can't remember every little detail.
我记不住每一个微小的细节。
You soon get used to the little difficulties.
你很快就会习惯这些小小的不便了。
used to say that sb told you sth but you do not want to say who it was
pron.
（与不可数名词连用）不多的
used with uncountable nouns to mean ‘not much’
There was little doubt in my mind.
我心里几乎没有疑问。
Students have little or no choice in the matter.
学生在这个问题上很少有或没有选择余地。
I understood little of what he said.
我几乎听不懂他所讲的。
She said little or nothing (= hardly anything) about her experience.
她对自己的经历几乎只字不提。
Tell him as little as possible .
尽量少告诉他。
（与不可数名词连用）少量的，一些
used with uncountable nouns to mean ‘a small amount’, ‘some’
a little milk/sugar/tea
少许牛奶 / 糖 / 茶
If you have any spare milk, could you give me a little?
你要是有多余的牛奶，给我一些好吗？
I've only read a little of the book so far.
这本书我才读了一小部分。
It caused not a little/no little (= a lot of) confusion.
这事引起了不小的混乱。
After a little (= a short time) he got up and left.
过了一会儿他站起来走了。
slowly; gradually
雪渐渐融化了。
Little by little the snow disappeared.
His English is improving little by little.
他的英语正在逐步提高。
adv.
不多；稍许；略微
not much; only slightly
He is little known as an artist.
几乎没人知道他是个艺术家。
I slept very little last night.
昨晚我几乎没怎么睡。
Little did I know that this spelled the end of my career.
我一点也没想到这会断送了我的职业生涯。
少许；少量；一点
to a small degree
She seemed a little afraid of going inside.
她好像有点害怕进去。
These shoes are a little (bit) too big for me.
我穿这双鞋太大了一点。
Everything has become just that little bit harder.
一切都变得艰难了。
She felt tired and more than a little worried.
她感到既疲劳又非常担忧。
little
DETERMINER, QUANTIFIER, AND ADVERB USES 限定词、量词和副词用法
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1
DET （数量上）微少的，少到几乎没有的（可用so，too，very修饰）
You use little to indicate that there is only a very small amount of something. You can use 'so', 'too', and 'very' in front of little.I had little money and little free time...
我没什么钱，也没多少空闲时间。
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2
ADV-GRADED （频率或程度）微小地，小到几乎没有地
Little means not very often or to only a small extent.On their way back to Marseille they spoke very little...
返回马赛的路上，他们没怎么说话。
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3
DET （数量上）不多的（亦作a very little）
A little of something is a small amount of it, but not very much. You can also say a very little.Mrs Caan needs a little help getting her groceries home...
卡安太太需要有人帮把手将食品杂货拿回家。
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4
ADV-GRADED 短时间地；一会儿地
If you do something a little, you do it for a short time.He walked a little by himself in the garden.
他一个人在花园里散了一会儿步。
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5
ADV-GRADED （程度上）一点地，少量地
A little or a little bit means to a small extent or degree.He complained a little of a nagging pain between his shoulder blades...
他有几句提到说肩胛骨之间一直在疼。
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6
PHRASE 逐渐地；一点一点地
If something happens little by little, it happens very gradually.In the beginning he had felt well, but little by little he was becoming weaker...
一开始他感觉很好，但慢慢地就变虚弱了。
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7
little作形容词时表示“小的”，如：a little house（小房子），little children（小孩子）。但little一般不用于强调某物之小，如通常不会说 The town is little或 I have a very little car, 但可以说The town is small（这个城镇很小）或 I have a very small car（我有一辆很小的汽车）。little不如small精确，而且可用于表示说话人对于所谈论的人或物的感情或态度。因而，little常跟在另一个形容词之后，如：What a nice little house you've got here（你这小房子真漂亮啊），Shut up, you horrible little boy（闭嘴，你这个讨厌的小家伙）。little和a little都可用作限定词修饰不可数名词，但其含义不同。例如，I have a little money（我有一点钱）是肯定陈述，表示有一些钱，而I have little money（我没什么钱）是否定陈述，表示几乎没钱。
Y
ADJECTIVE USES 形容词用法
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The comparative littler and the superlative littlest are sometimes used in spoken English for meanings 1, 3, and 4, but otherwise the comparative and superlative forms of the adjective little are not used.
口语中义项1、3、4有时用比较级littler和最高级littlest，但除此之外little作形容词时都不用比较级和最高级。
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2
ADJ-GRADED 小的（比small略欠正式）
Little things are small in size. Little is slightly more informal than small .We sat around a little table, eating and drinking wine.
我们围坐在一张小桌旁吃吃喝喝。
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3
ADJ 娇小的；小巧的
You use little to indicate that someone or something is small, in a pleasant and attractive way.She's got the nicest little house not far from the library.
她有一幢非常漂亮的小房子，就在离图书馆不远处。
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4
ADJ-GRADED 幼小的
A little child is young.I have a little boy of 8...
我有一个8岁的小男孩。
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5
ADJ (兄弟或姐妹)年纪较小的
Your little sister or brother is younger than you are.Whenever Daniel's little sister was asked to do something she always had a naughty reply.
每次让丹尼尔的妹妹做什么事，她总是要淘气地回嘴。
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6
ADJ-GRADED （距离、时间、事件等）短的
A little distance, period of time, or event is short in length.Just go down the road a little way, turn left, and cross the bridge...
沿这条路走一小段，向左转，然后过桥。
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7
ADJ-GRADED （声音、手势等）快速的
A little sound or gesture is quick.I had a little laugh to myself...
我自顾自地笑了一下。
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8
ADJ 微不足道的；细小的；琐碎的
You use little to indicate that something is not serious or important....irritating little habits...
烦人的小毛病
noun
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1
- a small amount or duration
- he accepted the little they gave him
adj
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1
- 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
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2
- (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
- Synonym: fiddling footling lilliputian niggling piddling piffling petty picayune trivial
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3
- 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
- Synonym: small
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4
- (of a voice) faint
- a little voice
- a still small voice
- Synonym: small
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5
- lowercase
- little a
- small a
- e.e.cummings's poetry is written all in minuscule letters
- Synonym: minuscule small
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6
- (of children and animals) young, immature
- what a big little boy you are
- small children
- Synonym: small
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7
- low in stature;not tall
- he was short and stocky
- short in stature
- a short smokestack
- a little man
- Synonym: short
adv
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1
- not much
- he talked little about his family
数据来源：WordNet
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We had a tiny little room which was christened Hades .
我们有一个非常小的房间，取名哈得斯。
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You 've had chess on the brain since you were little .
你从很小的时候就对下棋产生了浓厚兴趣。
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It 'll take a year , at the very least .
这至少需要一年时间。
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I read much less now than I used to .
我现在看的书比过去少得多。
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I spent what little time I had with my family .
我仅有的一点儿时间都和家人在一起度过了。
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It is less of a problem than I 'd expected .
问题不像我预料的那么大。
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For years we had little knowledge of what life was like inside China .
以往很多年我们对于中国国内的生活情况所知甚少。
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The human form has changed little over the last 30 000 years .
3万多年以来，人的体形没有多大变化。
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Try to put a little more expression into it !
尽量注入更多的感情！
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You 're going to have to give a little .
你可能非得稍为让步不可。
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Students have little or no choice in the matter .
学生在这个问题上很少有或没有选择余地。
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The committee has little or no understanding of the problem .
委员会对这个问题了解不多或根本不了解。
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The whole operation is performed in less than three seconds .
全部运算在三秒内完成。
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He 's starting to get a little thin on top .
他开始有点谢顶了。
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You are probably well enough to take a little light exercise .
你恢复得不错，大概可以做些轻微的运动了。
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It takes at least an hour to get home from work .
下班回家至少得花一个小时。
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You soon get used to the little difficulties .
你很快就会习惯这些小小的不便了。
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As time went by we saw less and less of each other .
随着时间的推移，我们见面越来越少。
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As yet little was known of the causes of the disease .
当时人们对这种疾病的起因几乎一无所知。
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The new laws have left us little room to manoeuvre .
新法律没给我们留下多少回旋的余地。
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That 's one of the less attractive aspects of her personality .
那是她个性中不太讨人喜欢的一面。
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Their background gives them little chance of achieving at school .
他们的家庭背景使他们很难有机会在学校学有所成。
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Is it too much to ask for a little quiet ?
请略微安静一点儿，这个要求过分吗？
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They won 't arrive for at least two hours yet .
他们至少要过两个小时才能到。
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There is little hope that they will be found alive .
活着找到他们的希望很渺茫。
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Almost all homes have at least one TV set .
差不多每家都至少有一台电视机。
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I 've only read a little of the book so far .
这本书我才读了一小部分。
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I have a little money in the bank to fall back on .
我在银行还有一点钱，需要时可以动用。
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They could not achieve their target of less than 3 % inflation .
他们未能达到通货膨胀低于3%的目标。
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I can see through your little game .
我看透了你的小把戏。
- 习语