small 
5. Being of little moment, weight, or impor- 
tance; trivial; insignificant; petty; trifling: as, 
it is a xmall matter or thing; a tmaU subject. 
Ye forsaken the grete worthinesse of concience and of 
vertu, and ye sekeu yowre gerdouns of the stnale wordes 
of straunge folkes. Chaucer, Boethius, ii. prose 7. 
This was thought no small peece of cunning, being in 
deed a matter of some dimcultie. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 11. 
6. Of little genius, ability, or force of char- 
acter; petty; insignificant. 
Consorts with the small poets of the time. 
B. Jonson, Alchemist, i. 1. 
7. Containing little of the principal quality, 
or little strength ; weak : as, small beer. 
This liquor tasted like a small cider, and was not un- 
pleasant. Swift, Gulliver's Travels, ii. 1. 
They can't brew their malt liquor too small. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 70. 
8. Thin: applied to tones or to the voice, (a) 
Fine ; of a clear and high sound ; treble. 
He syngeth in his voys gentil and smel. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 174. 
He herde the notes small 
Of byrdes mery syngynge. 
Lytell Beste of Robyn Bode (Child's Ballads, V. 121). 
Thy small pipe 
Is as the maiden's organ, shrill and sound. 
Shak., T. N., i. 4. 32 
(6) Gentle; soft; faint; not loud. 
After the fire a still small voice. 1 Ki. xix. 12. 
9. Characterized by littleness of mind or char- 
acter; evincing little worth; narrow-minded; 
sordid; selfish; ungenerous; mean; base; un- 
worthy. 
Neither was it a small policy in Newport and the Mar- 
riners to report in England we had such plentie, and 
bring vs so many men without victuals, when they had 
so many private Factors in the Fort. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, I. 199. 
Among the flippant and the frivolous, we also become 
small and empty. J. F. Clarke, Self-Culture, p. 25a 
10. Having little property ; carrying on a busi- 
ness on a small scale. 
Mr. Jones was not alone when he saw Ananias, but was 
accompanied by Mr. Miles Cottingham, a small fanner in 
the neighborhood. 
J. C. Harris, Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 707. 
11. Meager in quantity, as a body of water: 
an anglers' epithet: as, the water is too small 
to use the fly. [Scotland.] 12. Noting the 
condition of the cutting edge of a saw as con- 
densed by hammering: same as tight A small 
gross, ten dozen, or 120. In a small way (a) With 
little capital or stock : as, to be in business in a small wav 
(b) Unostentatiously ; without pretension. 
Mrs. Bates . . . was a very old lady, almost past every 
thing but tea and quadrille. She lived with her single 
daughter in a very small way, and was considered with all 
the regard and respect which a harmless old lady, under 
such untoward circumstances, can excite. 
Jane Austen, Emma, iii. 
Small ale, ale weak in malt and probably without hops 
or other bitter ingredient : used because cheaper, and also 
for refreshment in hot weather or after excessive indul- 
gence in strong liquors. Compare small beer. 
For God's sake, a pot of small ale; . . . 
And once again, a pot o' the smallest ale. 
Shak., T. of the S., Ind., ii. 1 and 77. 
Small arms. See arm*. Small ashler. Seeashler.s. 
Small beer, bower, brown, bugloss. See the nouns. 
- Small burdock. Same as lesser burdock. See burdock 
Small capitals, capital letters of the short and small 
form (A, B, c, D, etc.) furnished with every font of ro- 
man text-type. The letter was first made in type by 
Aldus Manutius of Venice in 1501, and used by him as 
the regular capital for his new italic. Small capitals are 
indicated in manuscript by two parallel lines under the 
word intended to be printed in them. Abbreviated S. C. 
or sm. cap. Small cardamom, the common cardamom' 
Elettaria Cardamomum. Also called Malabar cardamom 
See cardamom. Small casino, celandine, cranberry 
Sec the nouns. Small Chorus. Same as semichorus. 
Small coal, coal broken into very small pieces, either in 
Small tithes. See altarage, 2. Small wares See 
ware*. - The small hours. See hour. To think small 
beer Of. See 6eerI.=Syn. 1. Smaller, Fewer (see less') 
tiny, puny, stunted, Lilliputian, minute. 2. Inconsidera- 
ble, unimportant, slender, scanty, moderate, paltry slight 
feeble. 6. Shallow. See pettiness. 9. Illiberal, stingy 
scrimping. 
II. H. 1. A small thing or quantity ; also, the 
small or slender part of a thing: as, the KIHU 
of the leg or of the back ; specifically, the small- 
est part of the trunk of a whale; the tapering 
part toward, near, or at the base of the flukes. 
Now, certes, and ye lete me thus sterve, 
Yit have ye wonne theron but a smal. 
Chaucer, Complaint to his Lady, 1. 113. 
Long. His leg is too big for Hector's. 
Dum. More calf, certain. 
Boijet. No ; he is best indued in the small. 
Shak., L. L. L., v. 2. 645. 
2. pi. Same as smaH-clothcx. 
Tony Washington, the negro barber from the village, 
and assistant violinist, appeared in powdered hair a faded 
crimson silk coat, ruffle cuffs, and white smalls. 
S. Judd, Margaret, i. 10. 
3. pi. The "little go," or previous examina- 
tion: as, to be plucked for emails. [British 
university slang.] 
"Greats," so far as the name existed in my time, meant 
the Public Examination, as distinguished from Bespon- 
sions, Little-go, or "Smalls." 
E. A. Freeman, Contemporary Kev., LI. 821. 
4. pi. In coal-mining, same as small coal (see 
above). 5. pi. In metal-mining, ore mixed with 
gangue in particles of small size : a term used 
with various shades of meaning in certain dis- 
tricts of England. 
The ore ... is tipped from trucks on to a grating of 
iron bars about 2J in. apart; the "mine smalls" pass 
through. The Engineer, LXX. 126. 
A small and early, an informal evening entertainment. 
[Colloq.] 
For the clearing off of these worthies, Mrs. Podsnap 
added a small and early evening to the dinner. 
TMckens, Mutual Friend, xi. 
In smallt, in a form relatively small ; in miniature. 
The Labours of Hercules in massy silver, and many in- 
comparable pictures in small. Evelyn, Diary, Oct. 22, 1644. 
Small of an anchor, that part of the shank of an anchor 
immediately under the stock. Small Of the back. See 
smaragd 
Smallish (sma/lish), ii. [< Kuiiill + -Mil.] 
Somewhat small; rather small than large. 
Hise shuldris of a large brede, 
And smalish in the girdilstede. 
Bom. of the Rose, 1. 826. 
smallmouth (smal 'mouth), n. The small- 
mouthed black -bass. 
small-mouthed (smal'moutht), . Having a 
comparatively or relatively small mouth : as, 
the xmall-mottthed black-bass. 
smallness (smal'nes), n. [Formerly also umal- 
ness; <ME.sial><t'n; < si all + -ness.] Thestate 
or character of being small, in any sense of that 
word. = Syn. Pettiness, etc. See littleness. 
small-pica (smal'pi'ka), n. A size of printing- 
type, a little less than"7 lines to the inch, inter- 
mediate between the sizes pica (larger) and 
long-primer (smaller). It is equal to 11 points 
in the new system. Seepoinft, 14 (6), and pica*. 
This is small-pica type. 
Double small-pica. Seejco4. 
smallpox (smal'poks'), n. [Orig. small pocks, 
i. e. little pustules: see small and pock, pox.] 
An acute, highly contagious disease, fatal in 
between one third and one fourth of unvac- 
cinated cases. It ordinarily presents the following 
features: (1) a period of incubation (three to eighteen 
days or more, usually twelve to fourteen days) ; (2) period 
of invasion (two to four days), with aching in back limbs 
epigastrium, and high fever (primary fever), usually ush- 
ered in by well-marked chill ; (3) period of eruption (about 
five days), with cropping up of macuke, quickly develop- 
ing into papules and vesicles, more or less distinctly um- 
bilicated, over the skin, and a corresponding eruption 
forming little erosions and ulcers in the mucous mem- 
branes of the mouth and elsewhere (a marked fall of tem- 
perature and pulse-rate at the beginning of this period, 
with a subsequent slow rise as the eruption extends) ; (4) 
period of suppuration (four to five days), the vesicles be- 
coming pustules, with a marked rise of temperature and 
pulse-rate (secondary fever) ; (S) period of desiccation (six 
to ten days), the pustules breaking and forming dry scabs. 
The nature of the specific cause of the disease is as yet 
(1890) undetermined. It can remain potential in clothes 
. 
small (smal), v. t. [< ME. smalen; < small, a.~\ 
To make little or less ; lessen. Imp. Diet. 
small (smal), adv. [< ME. smal; < small, a.] 
If. In a small quantity or degree ; little. 
But, for that I was purveyed of a make, 
I wepte but smal, and that I undertake. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Wife of Bath's Tale, I. 592. 
If thou dost weep for grief of my sustaining, 
Know, gentle wench, it small avails my mood. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1273. 
2. Low; in low tones; gently; timidly; also, 
in a shrill or high key. 
Flute. Let not me play a woman ; I have a beard com- 
ing. 
Quince. You shall play it in a mask, and you may speak 
as small as you will. Shak. , M. N. D., i. 2. 49. 
The reposing toiler [on Sunday], thoughtfully smoking 
talking small, as if in honour of the stillness, or hearken- 
ing to the wailing of the gulls. 
R. L. Stevenson, Memoirs of an Islet. 
.** IMMU, **\jni uiuncii iniu very aimtii pieces, eitner in 
mining or in the course of its loading and transportation 
to market; slack. Small coal is frequently abbreviated 
to smalls. Small debts, small-debt court. See debt. 
Small double-post, a size of printing-paper 19 x 29 
inches. [Eng.]-Small fruits, fry, generals, hand 
See fruit, fri/2, etc. Small intestine, the intestine from 
the pylorus to the ileocffical valve, consisting of the duo- 
denum, jejunum, and ileum. See cut under intestine. 
Small magnolia. See Magnolia, 1. Small matweed 
See maimed, 2 (6). Small mean. See mean'*, 3 (c) 
Small measure. See measure. Small number in 
printimj, same as short number (which see, under short) 
Small octave. See octave, 2 (e). Small orchestra 
palmetto, pearl, peppermint, pond. See the nouns 
Small Penalties Act. See penalty. Small pota- 
toes, quarto, reed. See potato, quarto, reed.- Small 
reed-grass. Same as small reed. Small spikenard 
stores, sword. See the nouns. Small stuff (naul )' 
spun yarn, marline, and small ropes. Small talk trifling 
or unimportant conversation. 
Mr. Ciisnubon seemed even unconscious that trivialities 
existed, and never handed round that small-talk of heavy 
men which is as acceptable as stale bride-cake brought 
forth with an odor of the cupboard. 
Geonje Eliot, Middleman:!), iii. 
To do small, to have little success or poor luck. To 
sing small. See sing. 
smailage (sma'laj), n. [< ME. smalege, orig. 
*smal aclie,< smal, small, + ache, water-parsley, 
smailage. < L. apium, parsley: see ache?.] The 
celery-plant, Apium graveolens, especially in 
its wild state. It is then a marsh-plant, with the leaf- 
stalks little developed and of a coarse and acrid quality 
small-clothes (smal'kloTHz), . pi. Knee- 
breeches, as distinguished from pantaloons and 
trousers; especially, the close-fitting knee- 
breeches of the eighteenth century. Also short 
clothes and smalls. 
One ... in full fashion drest, . . . 
His small-clothes sat so close and tight 
His boots, like jet, were black and bright. 
W. Combe, Dr. Syntax's Tours, i. 20. 
His well-brushed Sunday coat and small-clothes, his 
bright knee and shoe buckles, his long silk stockings 
were all arranged with a trim neatness refreshing to be- 
h ld - H. B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 52. 
small-dot (smal'dot), . In lace-making, a name 
given to point d'esprit, and to any very small 
pieces of solid work recurring at regular inter- 
vals on the rseau or background. 
smallfish (smal'fish), n. The candlefish or 
eulachon. [Pacific coast, U. 8.] 
Small-headed (smarhed"ed), a. Having a com- 
paratively or relatively small head ; microce- 
phalic or microcephalous Small-headed fly- 
catcher, a bird of the eastern United States, described 
as Muscicapa minute by Wilson (1812). Nuttall (1832), and 
Audubun (1839), but never since identified. It is supposed 
to be a fly-catching warbler of the genus Myiodioctes 
. n coes 
or other contaminated articles for months or years. All 
ages are susceptible, but especially children, and the dis- 
ease may occur in the fetus. Also called variola. See 
vaccination, inoculati on. Confluent smallpox, small- 
pox in which the vesicles and pustules unite with one 
another to form bullae. Discrete smallpox, smallpox 
in which the vesicles and pustules remain distinct 
Hemorrhagic smallpox, smallpox in which there are 
hemorrhages, as from the mouth, bronchial tubes, stom- 
ach, bowels, and kidneys, as well as into the skin, forming 
vibices and petechise. Also called scorbutic, bloody, and 
black smallpox or variola. 
smally (smal'li), adv. [< ME. smally, smalliche; 
< small + -%2.] 1. l n a small manner, quan- 
tity, or degree ; with minuteness ; little. [Ob- 
solete or rare.] 
We see then how weak such disputes are, and how smally 
they make to this purpose. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, iii. 11. 
Ped. A very smale sweete voice, lie assure you 
Qua. Tis smally sweete indeede. 
Marston, What you Will, ii. 1. 
2f. With small numbers. 
Kenulph & his paramoure, . . . smally accompanyed. 
Fabyan, Chron., clii. 
smalt (smalt), . [< It. smalto, enamel, = Sp. 
Pg. esmalte = OF. esmail, F. email (ML. smal- 
tum), < G. schmalte = D. smalt = Sw. smalt = 
Dan. smalte, smalt, < OHG. smalzjan, smelzan, 
MHG. smelzen, G. schmelzen, melt, cause to melt 
(of. G. schmalz, grease, Olt. smalzo, butter), 
= E. smelt: see smelft, and cf. amel, enamel.] 
Common glass tinged of a fine deep blue by the 
protoxid of cobalt. When reduced to an impalpable 
powder it is employed as a pigment in painting, and in 
punting upon earthenware, and to give a blue tint to 
writing-paper, linen, etc. Also called enamel-blue, Eschel 
blue, royal blue. 
I was informed that at Sneeberg they have a manufac- 
ture of the powder blue called smalt, made of cobalth. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. ii. 235. 
Green smalt. Same as cobalt green (which see, under 
greenl). 
smaltine (smal'tin), n. [< smalt + -ine?.] An 
arsenide of cobalt, often containing nickel and 
iron. The allied arsenide of nickel, into which it passes, 
is called chloanthite. Smaltine occurs in isometric crys- 
tals, also massive, of a tin-white color and brilliant me- 
tallic luster. Also called smaltite, gray cobalt, tin-white 
cobalt, and by the Germans speiskobalt 
smaltite (smal'tlt), . [< smalt + -e2.] Same 
as smaltine. 
smaragdt (smar'agd), . [< ME. smaraade, < 
OF. smaragde = D. OHG. MHG. G. Dan. Sw. 
smaragd, < L. sniaragdiis, < Gr. a/idpaydoc, a pre- 
cious stone of light-green color: see emerald.] 
A precious or semi-precious stone of green 
color. 
Alle the thinges . . . that Indus giveth, . . . thatmed- 
eletn the grene stones (smaragde) with the white (marga- 
nts >- Chaucer, Boethius, iii. meter 10. 
