n.

1. a small amount or duration
   
   • he accepted the little they gave him

adj.

1. limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent;
   small
   
   • a little dining room
   • a little house
   • a small car
   • a little (or small) group
2. (quantifier used with mass nouns) small in quantity or degree; not much or almost none or (with `a') at least some;
   little(a)
   
   • little rain fell in May
   • gave it little thought
   • little hope remained
   • little time is left
   • we still have little money
   • a little hope remained
3. of short duration or distance;
   brief
   
   • a brief stay in the country
   • in a little while
   • it's a little way away
4. (of children and animals) young, immature;
   small
   
   • what a big little boy you are
   • small children
5. (informal) small and of little importance;
   fiddling, footling, lilliputian, niggling, piddling, piffling, petty, picayune, trivial
   
   • a fiddling sum of money
   • a footling gesture
   • our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war
   • a little (or small) matter
   • a dispute over niggling details
   • limited to petty enterprises
   • piffling efforts
   • giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction
6. (of a voice) faint;
   small
   
   • a little voice
   • a still small voice
7. lowercase;
   minuscule, small
   
   • little a
   • small a
   • e.e.cummings's poetry is written all in minuscule letters
8. small in a way that arouses feelings (of tenderness or its opposite depending on the context)
   
   • a nice little job
   • bless your little heart
   • my dear little mother
   • a sweet little deal
   • I'm tired of your petty little schemes
   • filthy little tricks
   • what a nasty little situation

adv.

1. not much
   
   • he talked little about his family