Least vs More - What's the difference?
least | more |
(little);The smallest amount of [something .
* 1857 , (Edmund March Blunt), The American Coast Pilot: Containing Directions for the Principal Harbors , E. & G.W. Blunt, page 135:
* John Duncan, Duncan's Travels
* , chapter=5
, title= *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
, passage=Charles had not been employed above six months at Darracott Place, but he was not such a whopstraw as to make the least noise in the performance of his duties when his lordship was out of humour.}}
* 2004 , Jim Baggott, Beyond Measure: Modern Physics, Philosophy, and the Meaning of Quantum Theory , Oxford University Press, page 48:
Used for forming superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est .
In the smallest or lowest degree; in a degree below all others.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-14, volume=411, issue=8891, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (senseid)
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= To a greater degree or extent.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=
, volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title=
* , Bk.XV, Ch.II:
(senseid) Used alone to form the comparative form of adjectives and adverbs.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.}}
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
, title=
To root up.
As a determiner least
is (little);the smallest amount of [something.As an adverb least
is used for forming superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est .As a noun more is
tomorrow.least
English
Determiner
(en-det) (comparative less)- The least water we could find there was 4 fathoms, which bears from the point S.E., and is distant 1½ mile.
- To have demolished and rebuilt the walls, would have been a very costly expedient, and as the least of two evils, the painter's brush was resorted to; here and there however, above some of the windows, the black wreathings of the smoke are still discernible through the white covering.
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=“Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.}}
- 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.
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 .Adverb
- It was the least surprising thing.
- to reward those who least deserve it
Antonyms
* mostDerived terms
(terms derived from "least") * at least * last but not least * least bittern * least common denominator * least flycatcher * least of all * least resistance * least sandpiper * least shrew * least upper bound * least weasel * log-linear least-squares method * method of least squares * not the least bit * path of least resistance * to say the leastStatistics
*Anagrams
* English degree adverbsmore
English
(wikipedia more)Etymology 1
From (etyl) more, from (etyl) .Determiner
(en determiner)It's a gas, passage=One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.}}
A punch in the gut, passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}
Adverb
(-)Ian Sample
Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains, passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
- Than was there pees betwyxte thys erle and thys Aguaurs, and grete surete that the erle sholde never warre agaynste hym more .
Geothermal Energy, volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.}}