1.
2.
3.
1.
[syn: less, to a lesser extent]
2. comparative of little;
- Example: "she walks less than she should"
- Example: "he works less these days"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Less \Less\, v. t.
To make less; to lessen. [Obs.] --Gower.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Less \Less\ (l[e^]s), conj.
Unless. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Less \Less\, a. [OE. lesse, AS. l[=ae]ssa; akin to OFries.
l[=e]ssa; a compar. from a lost positive form. Cf. Lesser,
Lest, Least. Less has the sense of the comparative degree
of little.]
Smaller; not so large or great; not so much; shorter;
inferior; as, a less quantity or number; a horse of less size
or value; in less time than before.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The substantive which less qualifies is often omitted;
as, the purse contained less (money) than ten dollars.
See Less, n.
[1913 Webster]
Thus in less [time] than a hundred years from the
coming of Augustine, all England became
Christian. --E. A.
Freeman.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Less \Less\, adv. [AS. l[=ae]s. See Less, adj., and cf.
Lest.]
Not so much; in a smaller or lower degree; as, less bright or
loud; less beautiful.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Less \Less\, n.
1. A smaller portion or quantity.
[1913 Webster]
The children of Israel did so, and gathered, some
more, some less. --Ex. xvi. 17.
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2. The inferior, younger, or smaller.
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The less is blessed of the better. --Heb. vii. 7.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
-less \-less\ (-l[e^]s) suff. [AS. le['a]s loose, false; akin to
OS. l[=o]s loose, false, D. los loose, loos false, sly, G.
los loose, Icel. lauss loose, vacant, Goth. laus empty, vain,
and also to E. loose, lose. [root]127. See Lose, and cf.
Loose, Leasing.]
A privative adjective suffix, denoting without, destitute of,
not having; as witless, childless, fatherless.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
less
adv 1: used to form the comparative of some adjectives and
adverbs; "less interesting"; "less expensive"; "less
quickly" [syn: less, to a lesser extent] [ant:
more, to a greater extent]
2: comparative of little; "she walks less than she should"; "he
works less these days" [ant: more]
adj 1: (comparative of `little' usually used with mass nouns) a
quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree; "of
less importance"; "less time to spend with the family";
"a shower uses less water"; "less than three years old"
[ant: more than, more(a)]
2: (usually preceded by `no') lower in quality; "no less than
perfect"
3: (nonstandard in some uses but often idiomatic with measure
phrases) fewer; "less than three weeks"; "no less than 50
people attended"; "in 25 words or less"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
89 Moby Thesaurus words for "less":
abated, ablated, at a disadvantage, at the nadir, attenuated,
barring, bated, belittled, below, below the mark, common, consumed,
contracted, curtailed, decreased, decreasingly, decrescendo,
deflated, demeaning, diminished, diminishingly, diminuendo,
disadvantaged, discounting, dissipated, dropped, eroded, ever less,
except, excepting, exception taken of, excluding, exclusive of,
fallen, fewer, from, humble, in the gutter, in the shade, inferior,
infra dig, junior, least, least of all, leaving out, less and less,
lesser, low, lower, lowered, lowly, miniaturized, minor, minus,
modest, not counting, not so much, off, ordinary, reduced,
retrenched, sans, save, scaled-down, second rank, second string,
secondary, servile, shorn, short of, shorter, shrunk, shrunken,
smaller, sub, subaltern, subject, subordinate, subservient,
third rank, third string, under, under par, underprivileged,
vulgar, watered-down, weakened, without, worn