small fry


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small fry

n.
1. Small children.
2. Young or small fish.
3. People or things regarded as unimportant.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

small fry

pl n
1. people or things regarded as unimportant
2. young children
3. (Zoology) young or small fishes
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

small′ fry`


n.pl.
1. very young children.
2. unimportant persons or things.
3. small or young fish.
[1895–1900]
small′-fry`, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.small fry - someone who is small and insignificant
nobody, nonentity, cypher, cipher - a person of no influence
2.small fry - a young person of either sexsmall fry - a young person of either sex; "she writes books for children"; "they're just kids"; "`tiddler' is a British term for youngster"
child's body - the body of a human child
juvenile, juvenile person - a young person, not fully developed
bairn - a child: son or daughter
buster - a robust child
changeling - a child secretly exchanged for another in infancy
child prodigy, infant prodigy, wonder child - a prodigy whose talents are recognized at an early age; "Mozart was a child prodigy"
foster child, foster-child, fosterling - a child who is raised by foster parents
scamp, imp, monkey, rapscallion, rascal, scalawag, scallywag - one who is playfully mischievous
kiddy - a young child
orphan - a child who has lost both parents
peanut - a young child who is small for his age
poster child - a child afflicted by some disease or deformity whose picture is used on posters to raise money for charitable purposes; "she was the poster child for muscular dystrophy"
kindergartener, kindergartner, preschooler - a child who attends a preschool or kindergarten
silly - a word used for misbehaving children; "don't be a silly"
sprog - a child
bambino, toddler, yearling, tot - a young child
urchin - poor and often mischievous city child
street child, waif - a homeless child especially one forsaken or orphaned; "street children beg or steal in order to survive"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
صِغار الناس، ناس قليلو الأهَميَّه
malé ryby
småfisk
kisemberek
lítilfjörlegur maîur, valdalítill hópur
malé ryby
önemsiz kişiler/şeyler

small fry

n he is small fryè un pesce piccolo
they are small fry → sono dei pesci piccoli
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

fry2

(frai) noun
a swarm of young, especially of fish.
small fry
unimportant people or things. The local politicians are just small fry.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
After that Maria dropped back into her old obscurity and Martin began to notice the respectful manner in which he was regarded by the small fry of the neighborhood.
The next morning was Saturday, the day on which the allowances of one shilling a week were paid--an important event to spendthrift youngsters; and great was the disgust amongst the small fry to hear that all the allowances had been impounded for the Derby lottery.
In a lake near Maldonado, from which the water had been nearly drained, and which, in consequence, swarmed with small fry, I saw several of these birds, generally in small flocks, flying rapidly backwards and forwards close to the surface of the lake.
The father de Barral whatever his origins retired from the Customs Service (tide-waiter I think), and started lending money in a very, very small way in the East End to people connected with the docks, stevedores, minor barge-owners, ship-chandlers, tally clerks, all sorts of very small fry. He made his living at it.
The sea has no appreciation of great men, but knocks them about like the small fry. It is habitually hard upon Sir Leicester, whose countenance it greenly mottles in the manner of sage-cheese and in whose aristocratic system it effects a dismal revolution.
But Diana and her small fry, the Echo Lodge people and the Allans, had stayed to help the two old ladies over the loneliness of the first evening; and they contrived to have a quietly pleasant little supper time, sitting long around the table and chatting over all the details of the day.
Daring was the fashionable amusement among the Avonlea small fry just then.
"Anyhow," said Uncle Roger, "that red silk dress will break the hearts of all the feminine small fry at the party.
I know some o' you has berry brig mout, brigger dan oders; but den de brig mouts sometimes has de small bellies; so dat de brigness ob de mout is not to swallar wid, but to bite off de blubber for de small fry ob sharks, dat can't get into de scrouge to help demselves.
Sir Walter in the same circumstances gets out of the room by making his love-scenes take place between the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next, but he could afford to do anything, and the small fry must e'en to their task, moan the dog as he may.
He may be conceived as one who, baiting his hook with real knickerbockers, fishes all day in the Gardens, which are to him but a pool swarming with small fry.
Bounderby, under the influence of this difficult adjuration, backed up by her compassionate eye, could only scratch his head in a feeble and ridiculous manner, and afterwards assert himself at a distance, by being heard to bully the small fry of business all the morning.

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