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Little vs Low - What's the difference?

little | low |

As adjectives the difference between little and low

is that little is small in size while low is in a position comparatively close to the ground.

As adverbs the difference between little and low

is that little is not much while low is close to the ground.

As a determiner little

is not much, only a little: only a small amount (of).

As a proper noun Little

is {{surname}.

As a noun low is

something that is low; a low point.

As a verb low is

to depress; to lower.

little

English

(wikipedia little)

Adjective

  • Small in size.
  • Insignificant, trivial.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author= Chico Harlan
    • , volume=189, issue=2, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Japan pockets the subsidy … , passage=Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion."}}
  • Very young.
  • (of a sibling) Younger.
  • * 1871 October 18, The One-eyed Philosopher [pseudonym], "Street Corners", in Judy: or the London serio-comic journal , volume 9, page 255 [http://books.google.com/books?id=_B4oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA255]:
    • If you want to find Little' France, take any turning on the north side of Leicester square, and wander in a zigzag fashion Oxford Streetwards. The ' Little is rather smokier and more squalid than the Great France upon the other side of the Manche.
  • * 2004 , Barry Miles, Zappa: A Biography , 2005 edition, ISBN 080214215X, page 5:
    • In the forties, hurdy-gurdy men could still be heard in all those East Coast cities with strong Italian neighbourhoods: New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston. A visit to Baltimore's Little Italy at that time was like a trip to Italy itself.
  • Small in amount or number, having few members.
  • Short in duration; brief.
    • a little sleep
  • Small in extent of views or sympathies; narrow; shallow; contracted; mean; illiberal; ungenerous.
  • * Tennyson
    • The long-necked geese of the world that are ever hissing dispraise, / Because their natures are little .

    Usage notes

    Some authorities regard both littler' and '''littlest''' as non-standard. The OED says of the word little: "''the adjective has no recognized mode of comparison. The difficulty is commonly evaded by resort to a synonym (as smaller, smallest); some writers have ventured to employ the unrecognized forms littler, littlest, which are otherwise confined to dialect or imitations of childish or illiterate speech.''" The forms '''lesser''' and ' least are encountered in animal names such as lesser flamingo and least weasel.

    Antonyms

    * (small) large, big * (young) big * (younger) big

    Adverb

  • Not much.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence. She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy […] distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its savour.
  • Not at all.
  • :
  • *
  • *: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-news, year=2012, date=May 13, author=Alistair Magowan, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd , passage=But as United saw the game out, little did they know that, having looked likely to win their 13th Premier League title, it was City who turned the table to snatch glory from their arch-rivals' grasp.}}

    Antonyms

    * much

    Determiner

  • Not much, only a little: only a small amount (of).
    • There is little water left.
    We had very little to do.

    Usage notes

    * is used with uncountable nouns, few with plural countable nouns.

    Antonyms

    * (not much) much

    Related terms

    * a little * li'l, li'l', lil * little by little * little old

    Statistics

    * 100 English basic words English degree adverbs 1000 English basic words

    low

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) lowe, lohe, . More at lie.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • In a position comparatively close to the ground.
  • Small in height.
  • Situated below the normal level, or the mean elevation.
  • Depressed, sad.
    • low spirits
    I felt low at Christmas with no family to celebrate with.
  • Not high in amount or quantity.
    • Food prices are lower in a supermarket than in a luxury department store.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= T time , passage=The ability to shift profits to low -tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. […] current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate […] “stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.}}
  • Of a pitch, suggesting a lower frequency.
  • Quiet; soft; not loud.
  • Despicable; lacking dignity; vulgar.
    • a person of low mind
    a low trick or stratagem
  • Lacking health or vitality; feeble; weak.
    • a low pulse
    made low by sickness
  • Being near the equator.
    • the low northern latitudes
  • Humble in character or status.
  • * Milton
    • Why but to keep ye low and ignorant?
  • * Felton
    • In comparison of these divine writers, the noblest wits of the heathen world are low and dull.
  • Simple in complexity or development.
  • Designed for the slowest speed, as in low gear .
  • Articulated with a wide space between the flat tongue and the palette.
  • (phonetics) Made, as a vowel, with a low position of part of the tongue in relation to the palate.
  • (archaic) Not rich, highly seasoned, or nourishing; plain; simple.
    • a low diet
    Synonyms
    * (in a position comparatively close to the ground) nether, underslung * (small in height) short, small * (depressed) blue, depressed, down, miserable, sad, unhappy, gloomy * reduced, devalued, low-level * low-pitched, deep, flat * low-toned, soft * (despicable thing to do) immoral, abject, scummy, scurvy
    Antonyms
    * (in a position comparatively close to the ground) high
    Derived terms
    * high and low * lowball * low blow * low bridge * low-budget * low-cost * Low Countries * low-cut * lower * lowercase * low-fat * Low German * low-grade * low island * lowland * Low Latin * low-level * low loader * lowly * low-lying * low road * low tide

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something that is low; a low point.
    • You have achieved a new low in behavior, Frank.
    ''Economic growth has hit a new low .
  • A depressed mood or situation.
    • He is in a low right now
  • (meteorology) An area of low pressure; a depression.
  • The lowest-speed gearing of a power-transmission system, especially of an automotive vehicle.
    • Shift out of low before the car gets to eight miles per hour.
  • (card games) The lowest trump, usually the deuce; the lowest trump dealt or drawn.
  • (slang) (usually accompanied by "the") a cheap, cost-efficient, or advantageous payment or expense.
    • He got the brand new Yankees jersey for the low .

    Adverb

    (er)
  • Close to the ground.
  • Of a pitch, at a lower frequency.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Can sing both high and low .
  • With a low voice or sound; not loudly; gently.
    • to speak low
  • * Tennyson
    • The odorous wind / Breathes low between the sunset and the moon.
  • Under the usual price; at a moderate price; cheaply.
    • He sold his wheat low .
  • In a low mean condition; humbly; meanly.
  • * '>citation
  • In a time approaching our own.
  • * John Locke
    • In that part of the world which was first inhabited, even as low down as Abraham's time, they wandered with their flocks and herds.
  • (astronomy) In a path near the equator, so that the declination is small, or near the horizon, so that the altitude is small; said of the heavenly bodies with reference to the diurnal revolution.
    • The moon runs low , i.e. comparatively near the horizon when on or near the meridian.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To depress; to lower.
    • (Jonathan Swift)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl), from (etyl) . More at laugh.

    Verb

    (head)
  • .

    • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) . More at claim.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To moo.
    • The cattle were lowing .
  • * Gray
    • The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea.

    Etymology 4

    From (etyl) lowe, loghe, from (etyl) . More at leye, light.

    Alternative forms

    * lowe

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable, UK, Scotland, dialect) A flame; fire; blaze.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (UK, Scotland, dialect) To burn; to blaze.
    • (Burns)

    Etymology 5

    From (etyl) . Obsolete by the 19th century, survives in toponymy as -low.

    Alternative forms

    * lawe

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • , mound, tumulus.
    • A barrow or Low, such as were usually cast up over the bodies of eminent Captains.'' (Robert Plot, ''The natural history of Staffordshire , 1686; cited after OED).
  • (Scottish dialectal, archaic) A hill.
    • And some they brought the brown lint-seed, and flung it down from the Low.'' (Mary Howitt, ''Ballads and other poems 1847)

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words English three-letter words ----