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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
-less \-less\ (-l[e^]s) suff. [AS. le['a]s loose, false; akin to OS. l[=o]s loose, false, D. los loose, loos false, sly, G. los loose, Icel. lauss loose, vacant, Goth. laus empty, vain, and also to E. loose, lose. [root]127. See {Lose}, and cf. {Loose}, {Leasing}.] A privative adjective suffix, denoting without, destitute of, not having; as witless, childless, fatherless.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Less \Less\, verb (used with an object) To make less; to lessen. [Obs.] --Gower.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Less \Less\ (l[e^]s), conj. Unless. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Less \Less\, adjective [OE. lesse, AS. l[=ae]ssa; akin to OFries. l[=e]ssa; a compar. from a lost positive form. Cf. {Lesser}, {Lest}, {Least}. Less has the sense of the comparative degree of little.] Smaller; not so large or great; not so much; shorter; inferior; as, a less quantity or number; a horse of less size or value; in less time than before.
Note: The substantive which less qualifies is often omitted; as, the purse contained less (money) than ten dollars. See {Less}, noun
Thus in less [time] than a hundred years from the coming of Augustine, all England became Christian. --E. A. Freeman.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Less \Less\, adverb [AS. l[=ae]s. See {Less}, adjective, and cf. {Lest}.] Not so much; in a smaller or lower degree; as, less bright or loud; less beautiful.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Less \Less\, noun
1. A smaller portion or quantity.
The children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. --Ex. xvi. 17.
2. The inferior, younger, or smaller.
The less is blessed of the better. --Heb. vii. 7.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
less
adjective
1: (comparative of 'little' usually used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning not as great in amount or degree; "of less importance"; "less time to spend with the family"; "a shower uses less water"; "less than three years old" [syn: {less(a)}] [ant: {more(a)}]
2: (usually preceded by 'no') lower in quality; "no less than perfect"
3: (usually preceded by 'no') lower in esteem; "no less a person than the king himself" [syn: {lower}]
4: (nonstandard in some uses but often idiomatic with measure phrases) fewer; "less than three weeks"; "no less than 50 people attended"; "in 25 words or less"
adverb
1: used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs; "less interesting"; "less expensive"; "less quickly" [syn: {to a lesser extent}] [ant: {more}]
2: comparative of little; "she walks less than she should"; "he works less these days" [ant: {more}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
89 Moby Thesaurus words for "less": abated, ablated, at a disadvantage, at the nadir, attenuated, barring, bated, belittled, below, below the mark, common, consumed, contracted, curtailed, decreased, decreasingly, decrescendo, deflated, demeaning, diminished, diminishingly, diminuendo, disadvantaged, discounting, dissipated, dropped, eroded, ever less, except, excepting, exception taken of, excluding, exclusive of, fallen, fewer, from, humble, in the gutter, in the shade, inferior, infra dig, junior, least, least of all, leaving out, less and less, lesser, low, lower, lowered, lowly, miniaturized, minor, minus, modest, not counting, not so much, off, ordinary, reduced, retrenched, sans, save, scaled-down, second rank, second string, secondary, servile, shorn, short of, shorter, shrunk, shrunken, smaller, sub, subaltern, subject, subordinate, subservient, third rank, third string, under, under par, underprivileged, vulgar, watered-down, weakened, without, worn
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