least
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[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Determiner
least (comparative less)
- Superlative form of little: most little.;The smallest amount of [something uncountable].
- He earns the least money in his family.
- Of all the sisters, she has the least patience.
- I can only afford to pay the least of the bills.
- 1857, Edmund March Blunt, The American Coast Pilot: Containing Directions for the Principal Harbors, E. & G.W. Blunt, page 135:
- The least water we could find there was 4 fathoms, which bears from the point S.E., and is distant 1½ mile.
- 2004, Jim Baggott, Beyond Measure: Modern Physics, Philosophy, and the Meaning of Quantum Theory, Oxford University Press, page 48:
- Light does not need to know in advance which is the path of least time because it takes all paths from its source to its destination.
[edit] Usage notes
Some grammarians recommend to use least only with uncountable nouns, as in the examples above with the smallest amount of sense:
- 1965, H. W. Fowler, Fowler’s Modern English Usage: Second Edition:
- [W]hen the context—unemotional statement of everyday facts—is taken into account, at a less price ought to be at a lower price, and a lesser prize ought to be a smaller prize.
To such grammarians least is the superlative of a little, not that of little, so it does not mean smallest, but the smallest amount of. With plural nouns, they recommend fewest.
[edit] Translations
the smallest amount of
[edit] Adverb
least (negative superlative)
- Used for forming superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est.
- It was the least surprising thing.
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Translations
[edit] Derived terms
terms derived from "least"
