Behind vs Less - What's the difference?
behind | less |
At the back of.
*
*:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Timothy Garton Ash)
, volume=189, issue=6, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To the back of.
After, time- or motion-wise.
*1883 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Treasure Island)
*:About the center, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed - I tethered by my rope.
Responsible for.
In support of.
:
Left a distance by, in progress or improvement; inferior to.
:
*Bible, xi.5:
*:I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.
At the back part; in the rear.
* Milton
Toward the back part or rear; backward.
Overdue, in arrears.
Slow; of a watch or clock.
existing afterwards
* Shakespeare
Backward in time or order of succession; past.
* Bible, Phil. ii. 13
Behind the scenes in a theatre; backstage.
* 1890 , (Oscar Wilde), The Picture of Dorian Gray , Vintage 2007, p. 68:
(archaic) Not yet brought forward, produced, or exhibited to view; out of sight; remaining.
* John Locke
the rear, back-end
butt, the buttocks, bottom
(Australian rules football) A one-point score.
* 1880 . "The Opening Ball" in Comic Australian Verse'', ed. G. Lehmann, 1975. Quoted in G. A. Wilkes, ''A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms , second edition, 1985, (Sydney University Press), ISBN 0-424-00113-6.
The catcher.
In the Eton College field game, any of a group of players consisting of two "shorts" (who try to kick the ball over the bully) and a "long" (who defends the goal).
To smaller extent.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= In lower degree.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.}}
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times
, passage=That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past. }}
* 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, p. 141:
A smaller amount (of); not as much.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= (proscribed) A smaller number of; fewer.
* 1952 , Thomas M Pryor, New York Times , 7 Sep 1952:
* 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 555:
* 2003 , Timandra Harkness, The Guardian , 16 Dec 2003:
Minus; not including
(obsolete) To make less; to lessen.
As prepositions the difference between behind and less
is that behind is at the back of while less is minus; not including.As adverbs the difference between behind and less
is that behind is at the back part; in the rear while less is to smaller extent.As a noun behind
is the rear, back-end.As an adjective less is
comparative of little; smaller.As a verb less is
to make less; to lessen.As a conjunction less is
unless.behind
English
Preposition
(English prepositions)Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli, passage=Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.}}
Synonyms
* in back of * to the rear ofAdverb
(en adverb)- I shall not lag behind .
- to look behind
- My employer is two paychecks behind on paying my salary.
- I'm two weeks behind in my schedule.
- ''My watch is four minutes behind .
- He left behind a legacy of death and sorrow.
- He stayed behind after the war.
- Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, / And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, / Leave not a rack behind .
- forgetting those things which are behind
- ‘After the performance was over I went behind , and spoke to her.’
- We cannot be sure that there is no evidence behind .
Usage notes
For usage in phrasal verbs, see Category: English phrasal verbs with particle "behind": .Noun
(en noun)- A roar from ten thousand throats go up,
For we've kicked another behind.
Derived terms
* behind bars * behind closed doors * behind in the count * behind somebody's back * behind the arc * behind the bit * behind the counter * behind the eight-ball * behind the scenes * behind the wheel * behindhand * caught behind * come from behind * drop behind * fall behind * get behind * hiney * leave behind * rushed behind * stay behind * wet behind the earsStatistics
*References
* Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8less
English
Adverb
(-)Katrina G. Claw
Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm, volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.}}
citation
Antonyms
* moreAdjective
- Those Rattels are somewhat like the chape of a Rapier, but lesse [...].
William E. Conner
An Acoustic Arms Race, volume=101, issue=3, page=206-7, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.}}
- This is not a happy situation as far as the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes is concerned because it means less jobs for the union's members here at home.
- No less than four standard-bearers went before them, carrying huge crimson banners emblazoned with the golden lion.
- Although my hosts, G S Aviation, can teach you to fly in Wiltshire, an intensive week at their French airfield means less problems with the weather, cheap but good living, and complete removal from any distractions.
Usage notes
Antonyms
* moreSee also
* fewerPreposition
(English prepositions)- It should then tax all of that as personal income, less the proportion of the car's annual mileage demonstrably clocked up on company business.
Antonyms
* plusVerb
- (Gower)