little
adjective
1 adjective smallbeag adj ► (in size)
she has a little house tá teach beag aici, tá teachín aicia little something bronntanas beag, ruidín beagthe baby is a tiny little thing tá an babaí beag bídeach► (in duration)
a little while longer tamall beag eile, tamaillín eilea little while tamall beag, tamall gearr, tamall gairid, tamaillín masc4they had a little chat bhí comhrá beag acuhe took a little break bhí sos beag aige► (of distance)
they went for a little walk chuaigh siad ar shiúlóid bheagit's a little way ahead tá sé tamaillín romhainn► (small-scale)
a lot of the little companies have closed down tá go leor de na comhlachtaí beaga dúnta 2 adjective youngbeag adj óg adj1 when I was little nuair a bhí mé beag, nuair a bhí mé óga little boy buachaill beag, buachaillín masc4, gasúr beaga little girl cailín beag, girseach bheagthe little ones are sick tá na páistí tinn, tá na leanaí breoitehis little sister is getting married tá a dheirfiúr bheag ag pósadhTaispeáin iontráil iomlán
3 adjective minor, unimportantbeag adj mion- prefwe had a little problem with it bhí fadhb bheag againn leis, bhí faidhbín againn leis 4 adjective fainthe had a little smile on his face bhí gáire beag ar a aghaidhshe spoke in a little voice labhair sí de ghlór íseal 5 adjective ordinarythey don't care for the little man is cuma leo faoin ngnáthdhuine 6 adjective pejorative to express disapprovalwhat a nasty little bully he is! níl ann ach maistín beag gránna! 7 adjective ironic after 'quite'quite the little detective, isn't she? nach í an bleachtaire beag í?; is bleachtaire beag cruthanta í, nach ea? 8 adjective pejorative petty, patheticsuarach pejorative adj1 beag suarach pejorative he fell for their little scheme mealladh é lena scéim bheag shuarach 9 adjective to express approval, affectionbeag adj it's a nice little restaurant is bialann bheag dheas í
adverb
10 adverb rarelywe go there very little is annamh ar fad a théimid ansinhe lost his temper very little is fíorannamh a thagadh fearg air, thagadh fearg air go fíorannamhhe sleeps little is beag a chodlaíonn sé, is beag codladh a dhéanann séhis books are little read is beag duine a léann a chuid leabhar 11 adverb scarcely, hardlyit's little better than slavery is beag idir é agus an sclábhaíocht, níl sé mórán níos fearr ná an sclábhaíochtwriting books is little different from writing essays is beag idir leabhair a scríobh agus aistí a scríobhlittle more than a decade ago beagán níos mó ná deich mbliana ó shin, corradh le deich mbliana ó shinit's little short of a miracle is geall le míorúilt é, is beag nach míorúilt é 12 adverb not at allshe cares little is cuma sa sioc léiit matters little is beag tábhacht atá leisthe salary was little affected is beag athrú a tháinig ar an tuarastalthey're little disposed to reading is beag spéis atá acu sa léitheoireacht, níl mórán spéise acu sa léitheoireachtlittle did he imagine that he'd win ba bheag a cheap sé go mbuafadh sé 13 adverb slightlyit's just that little bit different tá sé beagáinín difriúil, tá sé rud beag difriúil, tá éagsúlacht bheag ag baint leishe's a little nervous tá sé beagáinín neirbhíseach, tá sé rud beag neirbhíseach, tá sé pas beag neirbhíseachthey drove more than a little fast thiomáin siad agus luas nach beag fúthushe worked a little harder d'oibrigh sí beagán níos cruathe end came a little unexpectedly tháinig deireadh rud beag tobann leisI was not a little angry ní beag an fhearg a bhí ormthey bought something a little less expensive cheannaigh siad rud nach raibh díreach chomh daor sinpronoun
14 pronoun somethinga little beagántell us a little about yourself inis dúinn beagán fút féin, tabhair dúinn roinnt eolais mar gheall ort féin 15 pronoun short time or distanceafter a little i ndiaidh tamaill, tar éis tamaill, tar éis píosa 16 pronoun not muchthere's little they can do is beag is féidir leo a dhéanamh, is beag a thig leo a dhéanamhhowever little he says dá laghad a deir séwe know too little about it níl ár ndóthain eolais againn faoi, níl a fhios againn ár sáith faoiI see little of him now is beag a fheicim de anois, is annamh a fheicim é anoishe does as little as possible déanann sé a laghad agus is féidir leishe showed more than a little courage léirigh sé crógacht nach beagthey received precious little is beag ar fad a fuair siadthey had so little bhí a laghad sin acuI can remember very little about it is ar éigean atá cuimhne agam airthey did very little other than wait is beag eile a rinne siad seachas fanachtshe had little to say is beag a bhí le rá aici 17 pronoun small amounthe did what little he could rinne sé cibé beagán a bhí sé in ann, rinne sé a oiread agus a bhí sé in annevery little helps is beag rud nach gcuidíonn, bailíonn brobh beartthe little I know, I've learned from her an beagán atá ar eolas agam, is uaithise a fuair mé édeterminer
18 determiner some, small quantity ofa little beagánvery little butter beagáinín beag ime, rud beag bídeach ime 19 determiner not muchthey stood little chance is beag seans a bhí acu, ní raibh mórán seans acuit took comparatively little space is beag spás a thóg sé i gcomparáid leis an gcuid eile, is beag spás a thóg sé le hais na coda eilethey speak little or no English is ar éigean atá Béarla ar bith acu, níl Béarla acu ach ar éigeanso little a laghad sinthey got precious little thanks ba bheag buíochas a fuair siad, ní raibh buíochas ar bith orthu, ba ar éigean a fuair siad buíochas ar bithhe beat his opponent with no little difficulty ní gan dua a bhuail sé a chéile comhraic