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Less vs Open - What's the difference?

less | open |

As an adverb less

is to smaller extent.

As an adjective less

is .

As a preposition less

is minus; not including.

As a verb less

is (obsolete) to make less; to lessen.

As a conjunction less

is (obsolete) unless.

As a noun open is

.

less

English

Adverb

(-)
  • To smaller extent.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katrina G. Claw
  • , title= 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.}}
  • 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 citation
  • , 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. }}

    Antonyms

    * more

    Adjective

  • * 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, p. 141:
  • Those Rattels are somewhat like the chape of a Rapier, but lesse [...].
  • A smaller amount (of); not as much.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= William E. Conner
  • , title= 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.}}
  • (proscribed) A smaller number of; fewer.
  • * 1952 , Thomas M Pryor, New York Times , 7 Sep 1952:
  • 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.
  • * 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 555:
  • No less than four standard-bearers went before them, carrying huge crimson banners emblazoned with the golden lion.
  • * 2003 , Timandra Harkness, The Guardian , 16 Dec 2003:
  • 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

    * more

    See also

    * fewer

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Minus; not including
  • 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

    * plus

    Verb

  • (obsolete) To make less; to lessen.
  • (Gower)

    Derived terms

    * less is more * more or less * nevertheless

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • (obsolete) unless
  • (Ben Jonson)

    open

    English

    (wikipedia open)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (not comparable) Which is not closed; accessible; unimpeded; as, an open gate.
  • * 1908, (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows) , Chapter 2
  • The open road, the dusty highway
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}
  • Not drawn together, closed, or contracted; extended; expanded.
  • an open''' hand; an '''open''' flower; an '''open prospect
  • * Dryden
  • Each, with open arms, embraced her chosen knight.
  • (not comparable) Actively conducting or prepared to conduct business.
  • (comparable) Receptive.
  • * Bible, Acts xix. 33
  • If Demetrius have a matter against any man, the law is open and there are deputies.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The service that I truly did his life, / Hath left me open to all injuries.
  • (not comparable) Public; as, an open letter, an open declaration.
  • * Shakespeare
  • His thefts are too open .
  • * Milton
  • That I may find him, and with secret gaze / Or open admiration him behold.
  • (not comparable) Candid, ingenuous, not subtle in character.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • with aspect open , shall erect his head
  • * Shakespeare
  • The Moor is of a free and open nature.
  • * Addison
  • The French are always open , familiar, and talkative.
  • (mathematics, logic, of a formula) Having a free variable.
  • (mathematics, topology, of a set) Which is part of a predefined collection of subsets of X, that defines a topological space on X.
  • In current use; mapped to part of memory.
  • (business) Not fulfilled.
  • Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration.
  • an open question
    to keep an offer or opportunity open
  • (music, stringed instruments) Without any fingers pressing the string against the fingerboard.
  • Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing waterways, blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; used of the weather or the climate.
  • an open winter
    (Francis Bacon)
  • (phonetics) Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; said of vowels.
  • (phonetics) Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure.
  • Synonyms
    * (not closed) accessible, unimpeded
    Antonyms
    * (accessible) closed, shut
    Derived terms
    (Terms derived from the adjective "open") * break open * clopen * drop open * half-open * keep a weather eye open * keep an eye open * lay open * open-air * open-and-shut * open-armed * open-arse * open bar * open book * open cluster * open-collar * open compound * open content * open design * open-ended * open-eyed * open-face * open-faced * open fireplace * open goal * open-handed/openhanded * open heart surgery * open-hearted * open-hearth * open house * open interest * open letter * open listing * open loop * open marriage * open matte * open mic * open mind * open-mouthed * open outcry * open outsourcing * open-plan * open problem * open proxy * open sandwich * open sea * open season * open secret * open sight * open source * open system * open water * open-work * openable * openside * Open University * wide open * with open arms

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make something accessible or remove an obstacle to its being accessible.
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=20 citation , passage=‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’}}
  • To bring up (a topic).
  • To make accessible to customers or clients.
  • To start (a campaign).
  • To become .
  • * , chapter=1
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
  • To begin conducting business.
  • To enter upon; to begin.
  • to open''' a discussion; to '''open''' fire upon an enemy; to '''open''' trade, or correspondence; to '''open a case in court, or a meeting
  • (cricket) To begin a side's innings as one of the first two batsmen.
  • (poker) To bet before any other player has in a particular betting round in a game of poker.
  • (transitive, intransitive, poker) To reveal one's hand.
  • To load into memory for viewing or editing.
  • To spread; to expand into an open or loose position.
  • to open a closed fist
    to open matted cotton by separating the fibres
  • (obsolete) To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • The king opened himself to some of his council, that he was sorry for the earl's death.
  • * Bible, Jer. xx. 12
  • Unto thee have I opened my cause.
    Antonyms
    * (to make accessible) close, shut
    Derived terms
    * open a can of whoop ass * open fire * open one's big mouth * open sesame * open shop * open the attack * open the face * open up * reopen *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A sports event in which anybody can compete; as, the Australian Open.
  • (electronics) a wire that is broken midway.
  • The electrician found the open in the circuit after a few minutes of testing.
  • (with the ) Open or unobstructed space; an exposed location.
  • I can't believe you left the lawnmower out in the open when you knew it was going to rain this afternoon!
    Wary of hunters, the fleeing deer kept well out of the open , dodging instead from thicket to thicket.
  • (with the ) Public knowledge or scrutiny; full view.
  • We have got to bring this company's corrupt business practices into the open .

    Statistics

    *