less Hear it!

less definition

less (les)

adjective

  1. little
  2. not so much; smaller in size or amount to drink less milk, take less time
  3. fewer in less than 25 words

Etymology: ME les < OE læs, adv. læssa, adj. (used as compar. of lytel, little), akin to OFris les < IE *leis- < base *lei-, to diminish, meager, > little

adverb

  1. little
  2. to a smaller extent less likely to succeed

noun

a smaller amount

with the deduction of; minus about $5,000, less taxes; thirty less ten is twenty
less Idioms

less and less

to a decreasing degree; decreasingly

much less

or still less
to an even smaller degree or extent she won't even talk to him, much less work with him

no less a person than

a person of no lower importance, rank, etc. than

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.
Related Discussions (3)
TopicRepliesLatest Post
LESS111 hours ago
I could care less388 months ago
I couldn't/could care less334 years ago

Browse Forums