See Also:

topsail (iou) and less(2) (iou)


topsail (iou)



topsail noun. LME.
[from TOP adjective + SAIL noun1.]
Nautical. In a square-rigged vessel, the sail, or (in larger ships) either of two sails, next above the lower sail. In a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, a square or triangular sail set above the gaff.

less(2) (iou)



less adjective (in mod. usage also classed as a determiner) , adverb, preposition, noun, & conjunction. As conjunction also 'less.

A. adjective. A compar. of little.
a. A smaller number of; fewer. Now non-standard. OE.
b. Of number, amount, degree, etc.: not so great (as something mentioned or implied). Formerly also of physical size and material objects: smaller. (In attrib. use lesser is more usual.) Opp. (in mod. English) greater. LOE.
Joseph Harris 19 is less than 20. Byron And then the sighs he would suppress..grew less and less. A. N. Wilson Their number was less than ten.
c. Of smaller quantity or amount; not so much. ME.
G. Greene Things would have been different..if Margaret had been less artist, more woman. E. Bowen Mrs. Kearney could do with a little less weight and Miss Kevin..with a little more. P. Theroux Going without Food he needed less sleep. W. Boyd With less reluctance than usual..Temple allowed his father-in-law to grasp his hand.
Of lower status or rank; inferior. obsolete exc. in phrs. like no less a person than. OE.
Designating the smaller, inferior, or (after Latin use) younger of two persons or things of the same name. obsolete exc. in James the Less and imitations of this. OE.
With words expressing or implying a neg.: more. rare (Shakes.). Only in E17.
b. adverb. To a smaller extent; in a lower degree; to an inferior extent, amount, etc. OE.
M. Arnold The less practised eye of sanguine youth. H. James It didn't matter if one was a little more or a little less understood. G. Vidal It looked smaller and less tidy than he had expected. J. Mitchell It..applied less in Shrieve's colony than in others.
C. preposition. With the subtraction of; minus. Orig. following the quantity to be subtracted. OE.
Times Cost of paint..Less VAT input tax..500.
D. noun. A smaller amount, quantity, or number (than one that is mentioned or implied, of something). OE.
C. H. Spurgeon The less said about her the better. J. Conrad In less than two minutes he was back in the brig. W. Faulkner The face..showed less of the ravages of passions..than his own.
E. conjunction. Unless. Now US dial. & colloq. ME.
Phrases (of adjective, adverb, & noun): do less than do anything Other than (freq. in neg. contexts). do no less do nothing else or Other (than). in less than no time colloq. very soon, very quickly. know little and care less, know nothing and care less: see KNOW verb. less in inferior in point of. less of (a) = less in above; (b) less of a , a to a smaller extent; (c) colloq. (as imper.) let us have less of, desist from (an action). less than (a) not at all, by no means; (b) unless. more haste, less speed: see HASTE noun. more or less: see MORE adjective etc. much less: introducing a statement or suggestion regarded as still more unacceptable than one that has just been denied. NE'ER the less. no less: see NO adverb2. nothing less least of all things, anything rather (than the thing in question). nothing less than (a) far from being, anything rather than; (b) the very same thing as; quite equal to. not the less: see NOT adverb. still less = much less above. the less a thing which or person who is smaller or less (of two things compared).