small fry en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From small + fry, first use appears c. 1577, in the publications of John Dee.
Meanings
- One or more small or immature fish.
-
(informal) One or more children.
After his death in 1950, his widow and a board of trustees who were left with responsibility of running the cranberry plant decided to continue the miniature railway's services to the "small fry", and it opened as usual on December 6, 1951.
1952 August, Austin Edwards, “The Cranberry and Small Fry Line”, in Railway Magazine, page 556:
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(idiomatic) One or more relatively small and insignificant individuals or things of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.
The police did not arrest the drug dealer since he was a small fry compared to his boss.
These slot machines are just the small fry. The big games are in the back room.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| small fry | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| small fries | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Synonyms
nobody · minnow · no one · small potatoes
Translations (32)
ru ме́лкая рыбёшка (one or more small fish) · fi pikkuväki (one or more children) · pl blotka (things or people of little importance) · nl klein bier (things or people of little importance) · ja 雑魚 (things or people of little importance) · fo æti (things or people of little importance) · fi pikkukala (one or more small fish) · ru ребяти́шки (one or more children) · ru мелюзга́ (one or more children) · es Don Nadie (things or people of little importance) · ko 잔챙이 (things or people of little importance) · ru малёк (one or more small fish) · ru ме́лкая со́шка (things or people of little importance) · mk си́тна ри́ба (things or people of little importance) · grc ἀφύη (one or more small fish) · ru мелюзга́ (one or more small fish) · fi pikkutekijä (things or people of little importance) · eo nulo (things or people of little importance) · ko 잔챙이 (one or more small fish) · enm menuse (one or more small fish) · ru ме́лкая рыбёшка (things or people of little importance) · ru ме́лочь (one or more children) · ja 雑魚 (one or more small fish) · ru ме́лочь (things or people of little importance) · ru ры́бка (one or more small fish) · pl płotka (things or people of little importance) · ru детвора́ (one or more children) · fi pikkujuttu (things or people of little importance) · fr menu fretin (things or people of little importance) · pl błahostka (things or people of little importance) · de kleine Fische (things or people of little importance) · mk ри́пче (one or more small fish)