LESS

less

(adjective) (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”

less

(adjective) (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”

less

(adjective) (usually preceded by ‘no’) lower in quality; “no less than perfect”

less, to a lesser extent

(adverb) used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs; “less interesting”; “less expensive”; “less quickly”

less

(adverb) comparative of little; “she walks less than she should”; “he works less these days”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Adverb

less (not comparable)

To a smaller extent or degree.

Antonyms

• more

Determiner

less

(Now chiefly of numbers or dimensions) comparative form of little; of inferior size, degree or extent; smaller, lesser. [from 11th c.]

A smaller amount of; not as much. [from 12th c.]

(sometimes proscribed) Fewer; a smaller number of. [from 14th c.]

Antonyms

• more

Preposition

less

Minus; not including

Antonyms

• plus

Verb

less (third-person singular simple present lesses, present participle lessing, simple past and past participle lessed)

(archaic) To make less; to lessen.

Noun

less (uncountable)

A smaller amount or quantity.

Etymology 2

Conjunction

less

(obsolete) unless

Anagrams

• ELSS, SLEs

Source: Wiktionary

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-less. Etym: [AS. leás loose, false; akin to OS. l 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. sq. root127. See Lose, and cf. Loose, Leasing.]

Definition: A privative adjective suffix, denoting without, destitute of, not having; as witless, childless, fatherless.

Less (lês), conj.

Definition: Unless. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Less, a. Etym: [OE. lesse, AS. læssa; akin to OFries. lessa; a compar. from a lost positive form. Cf. Lesser, Lest, Least. Less has the sense of the comparative degree of little.]

Definition: 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.

Note: The substantive which less qualifies is often omitted; as, the purse contained less (money) than ten dollars. See Less, n. Thus in less [time] than a hundred years from the coming of Augustine, all England became Christian. E. A. Freeman.

Less, adv. Etym: [AS. l. See Less, adj., and cf. Lest.]

Definition: Not so much; in a smaller or lower degree; as, less bright or loud; less beautiful.

Less, n.

1. A smaller portion or quantity. The children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. Ex. xvi. 17.

2. The inferior, younger, or smaller. The less is blessed of the better. Heb. vii. 7.

Less, v. t.

Definition: To make less; to lessen. [Obs.] Gower.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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