/'lɪtl; `lɪtl/
adj [usu attrib 通常作定语] (Thecomparative and superlative forms, littler / 5lItlE(r); `lItlL/ and littlest / 5lItlIst; `lItlIst/ are rare. It is more common to use smaller, smallest. 此词的比较级和最高级罕用littler和littlest而常用smaller和smallest. )
1 not big; small 小的
*six little puppies 六只小狗
* a little coffee-table 小咖啡桌
* a little movement of impatience 不耐烦的小动作
* a little group of tourists 一小批游客
* There's a little mark on your sleeve. 你的袖子上有一小块污迹.
* a house with a little garden 带小花园的房子
* little holes to let air in 通气的小孔.
2 (of distance or time) short （指距离或时间）短的
*It's only a little way now. 现在没多远了.
* You may have to wait a little while. 你可能得等上一小会儿.
* Shall we go for a little walk? 散会儿步好吗?
3 (used usu after nice, pretty, sweet, nasty, etc to express the speaker's feeling of affection, pleasure, annoyance, etc 通常用于nice、pretty、sweet、nasty等之後表示亲切、快乐、嫌恶等)
*a nice little room 玲珑的房间
* a sweet little child 长得很甜的孩子
* a funny little restaurant 古里古怪的餐厅
* What a nasty little man! 多么讨人厌的家伙!
* A (dear) little old lady helped me find my way. 有位（可亲）可敬的老太太帮我找到路了.
* There's a little shop on the corner that sells bread. 街角上有那么个卖面包的　子.
4 not important; insignificant 不重要的; 不足道的
*a little mistake 小错
* We only had a little snack at lunchtime. 我们午饭只吃了一点小吃.
5 young 幼小的
*I had curly hair when I was little. 我小时候是鬈发.
* My little (ie younger) brother is 18. 我弟弟18岁.
6 small when compared with others （相比之下）小的
*one's little finger 小指
* the little hand of the clock 钟的短针
* `Which packet would you prefer?' `I'll take the little one.' ｀你喜欢哪一包?＇｀我要小包.＇ =>Usage at small 用法见small.
7 (idm 习语) big, etc oaks from little acorns grow => oak. in little (fml 文) on a small scale 小规模地. a little bird told me (that...) (joc 谑) I know but will not tell you how, or from whom, I know 我知道, 但我不告诉你我是怎么知道的. twist sb round one's little finger => twist.

/'lɪtl; `lɪtl/
indef det (used with [U] ns 与不可数名词连用) a small amount (of sth); not enough 小量的; 不足的; 不多的
*I have very little time for reading. 我没有多少时间看书.
* We had little rain all summer. 一夏天几乎没下雨.
* There's little point in telling her now. 现在告诉她已没有什么意义了. =>Usage at much1 用法见much1.

indef pron (used as a n when preceded by the 在the之後, 用作名词) a small amount 些少; 少量
*Little of the music was recognizable. 那音乐差不多都难于辨识.
* I understood little of what he said. 他说的我只听懂一点儿.
* We read a lot of poetry at school I remember very little now. 我们上学时念过不少诗--现在我记得的所剩无几.
* The little that I have seen of his work is satisfactory. 他的工作就我所见的那一小部分而言是令人满意的.

adv
1 not much; only slightly 些少; 稍许
*He is little known as an artist. 他是个不出名的艺术家.
* She left little more than an hour ago. 她离开一个多钟头了.
* I slept very little last night. 昨晚我睡得很少.
* Little does he know (ie He doesn't know) what trouble he's in. 他对自己所处何种地步茫无所知.
2 (idm 习语) ,little by `little making progress slowly, gradually 一点一点地; 逐渐地
*Little by little the snow disappeared. 雪渐渐消失.
* His English is improving little by little. 他的英语渐有提高. ,little or `nothing hardly anything 几乎无
*She said little or nothing about her experience. 她对自己的经历没怎么透露. make little of sth
(a) = make light of sth (light3).
(b) understand or read hardly anything of sth 不明白; 看不懂
*It's in Chinese I can make little of it. 这是中文--我一点儿都不懂. Cf 参看 less.

/'lɪtl; `lɪtl/
a little indef det (used with [U] ns 与不可数名词连用) a small amount (of sth); some but not much 少量; 些微; 稍许
*a little milk, sugar, tea, etc 少许牛奶、糖、茶等
* Could you give a little more attention to spelling? 你稍微多注意一下拼写好吗?
* I need a little help to move these books. 我需要人来帮点忙搬这些书.
* It caused not a little (ie a great deal of) confusion. 这事引起很大混乱.