lesses

adverb, a compar. of little with least as superl.

1. to a smaller extent, amount, or degree: less exact.
2. most certainly not (often preceded by much or still): He could barely pay for his own lodging, much less for that of his friend.
3. in any way different; other: He is nothing less than a thief.

adjective, a compar. of little with least as superl.

4. smaller in size, amount, degree, etc.; not so large, great, or much: less money; less speed.
5. lower in consideration, rank, or importance: no less a person than the manager.
6. fewer: less than a dozen.

noun

7. a smaller amount or quantity: Hundreds of soldiers arrived, but less of them remained.
8. something inferior or not as important: He was tortured for less.

preposition

9. minus; without: a year less two days; six dollars less tax.

Idioms

10. less than, by far short of being; not in the least; hardly at all: The job is less than perfect.

determiner

1. 1. the comparative of little (def. 1) less sugar; less spirit than before
   2. (as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural)she has less than she needs; the less you eat, the less you want
2. (usually preceded by no) lower in rank or importanceno less a man than the president; St James the Less
3. no less informal used to indicate surprise or admiration, often sarcastic, at the preceding statementshe says she’s been to Italy, no less
4. less of to a smaller extent or degreewe see less of John these days; less of a success than I’d hoped

adverb

5. the comparative of little (sense 1)she walks less than she should; less quickly; less beautiful
6. much less or still less used to reinforce a negativewe don’t like it, still less enjoy it
7. think less of to have a lower opinion of

preposition

8. subtracting; minusthree weeks less a day

Old English læs (adv.), læssa (adj.), comparative of læs “small;” from Proto-Germanic *lais-izo “smaller” (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian les “less;” Middle Dutch lise “soft, gentle,” German leise “soft”), from PIE root *leis- “small” (cf. Lithuanian liesas “thin”). Formerly also “younger,” as a translation of Latin minor, a sense now obsolete except in James the Less. Used as a comparative of little, but not related to it. The noun is Old English læsse. In addition to the idiom beginning with less

less than

also see:

couldn’t care less

in (less than) no time

more or less

much less