a little


A small amount, as in Will you have some more meat? Yes, just a little. [Early 1400s]

Words Nearby a little

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use a little in a sentence

  • Emendations on the here-a-little-there-a-little plan, while they do no harm, do little good.

  • In the first place the boys all spoke to him in that specially offensive you're-only-a-little-kid sort of way.

    War and the Weird | Forbes Phillips
  • With the "kid," a. little tin cannikin was passed down with molasses.

    Redburn. His First Voyage | Herman Melville
  • He remembered that he still had a biscuit in his pocket-a little round biscuit of Huntley and Palmer's.

    The Quest | Frederik van Eeden
  • Don't buy the books that have fittingly been called "a-little-child-shall-lead-them" stories.

    Sunday-School Success | Amos R. Wells