smallest

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small

(smôl)

adj. small·er, small·est

a. Being below average in size: a small car.

b. Being below average in quantity or extent: a small donation; a small project.

2. Limited in importance or significance; trivial: a small matter.

3. Having limited position, influence, or status; minor: "A crowd of small writers had vainly attempted to rival Addison" (Thomas Macaulay).

4. Unpretentious; modest: made a small living; helped the cause in my own small way.

5. Not fully grown; very young: a small child.

6. Narrow in outlook; petty: a small mind.

7. Having been belittled; humiliated: Their comments made me feel small.

8. Diluted; weak. Used of alcoholic beverages.

9. Lacking force or volume: a small voice.

10. Lowercase: Type the password in small letters.

adv.

1. In small pieces: Cut the meat up small.

2. Without loudness or forcefulness; softly.

3. In a small manner.

1. A part that is smaller or narrower than the rest: the small of the back.

2. smalls

a. Small things considered as a group.

b. Chiefly British Small items of clothing.

[Middle English smal, from Old English smæl.]

small′ish adj.

small′ness n.

Synonyms: small, diminutive, little, miniature, minuscule, minute², petite, tiny, wee¹
These adjectives mean being notably below the average in size or magnitude: a small house; diminutive in stature; little hands; a miniature camera; a minuscule amount of rain; minute errors; a petite figure; tiny feet; a wee puppy.

Antonym: large

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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smallest

adjective

Comprising the least possible:

littlest, minimal, minimum.

Translations

ελάχιστος

menor mínimo

References in classic literature ?

When a family is complete, it consists of freemen and slaves; but as in every subject we should begin with examining into the smallest parts of which it consists, and as the first and smallest parts of a family are the master and slave, the husband and wife, the father and child, let us first inquire into these three, what each of them may be, and what they ought to be; that is to say, the herile, the nuptial, and the paternal.

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They also go against my taste; but that is the smallest matter unto me, since I am among men.

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The Fox accumulated all that they had killed into one large heap and left to himself the smallest possible morsel.

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'That's not the smallest danger in it--not the very smallest,' said the Jew; 'it's only to dodge a woman.'

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It was not badly named in one respect, being in truth a particularly little Bethel--a Bethel of the smallest dimensions-- with a small number of small pews, and a small pulpit, in which a small gentleman (by trade a Shoemaker, and by calling a Divine) was delivering in a by no means small voice, a by no means small sermon, judging of its dimensions by the condition of his audience, which, if their gross amount were but small, comprised a still smaller number of hearers, as the majority were slumbering.

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call none of the race a friend of mine, trapper, if you have the smallest regard for my affection!

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Neither you nor I can assert the smallest right to control her.

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"No," said the Jackass, "you are the smallest donkey."

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Hitherto the smallest details of the operation had been daily chronicled by the journals, which the public devoured with eager eyes.

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When the morning came, the smallest of the boats was missing--and the three Hindoos were next reported to be missing, too.

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"I have not the smallest objection to explaining them," said he, as soon as she allowed him to speak.

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The suffering, whether of martyr or victim, which belongs to every historical advance of mankind, is represented in this way in every town, and by hundreds of obscure hearths; and we need not shrink from this comparison of small things with great; for does not science tell us that its highest striving is after the ascertainment of a unity which shall bind the smallest things with the greatest?