- a littleused with uncountable nouns to mean ‘a small amount’, ‘some’
- a little milk/sugar/tea
- If you have any spare milk, could you give me a little?
- I've only read a little of the book so far.
- (formal) It caused not a little/no little (= a lot of) confusion.
- After a little (= a short time) he got up and left.
- used with uncountable nouns to mean ‘not much’
- There was little doubt in my mind.
- Students have little or no choice in the matter.
- I understood little of what he said.
- She said little or nothing (= hardly anything) about her experience.
- Tell him as little as possible.
Word OriginOld English lȳtel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch luttel, German dialect lützel.
Idioms
See little in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee little in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishlittle by little
- slowly; gradually
- Little by little the snow disappeared.
- His English is improving little by little.
Check pronunciation:
little