Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - small

(smaller, smallest) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. A small person, thing, or amount of something is not large in physical size. She is small for her age... The window was far too small for him to get through... Stick them on using a small amount of glue. ? large ADJ • smallness Amy had not mentioned the smallness and bareness of Luis’s home. ? largeness N-UNCOUNT 2. A small group or quantity consists of only a few people or things. A small group of students meets regularly to learn Japanese... Guns continued to be produced in small numbers. ? large ADJ 3. A small child is a very young child. I have a wife and two small children... What were you like when you were small? = young, little ADJ 4. You use small to describe something that is not significant or great in degree. It’s quite easy to make quite small changes to the way that you work... No detail was too small to escape her attention... = minor ? major ADJ 5. Small businesses or companies employ a small number of people and do business with a small number of clients. ...shops, restaurants and other small businesses... ADJ 6. If someone makes you look or feel small, they make you look or feel stupid or ashamed. This may just be another of her schemes to make me look small... ADJ: v-link ADJ 7. The small of your back is the bottom part of your back that curves in slightly. Place your hands on the small of your back and breathe in. N-SING: the N of n 8. the small hours: see hour small wonder: see wonder see also smalls