Pronunciations (2)
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/maɪt/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
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maɪt
Noun
Any of many minute arachnids which, along with the ticks, comprise subclass Acari (syn. Acarina).
A small coin formerly circulated in England, rated at about a third of a farthing.
- Examples
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One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
A lepton, a small coin used in Judea in the time of Christ.
A small weight; one twentieth of a grain.
Anything very small; a minute object; a very little quantity or particle.
Usage- adverbial
- sometimes
- Examples
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a mite
More examples (3)
It takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a phonograph, or a photograph, or a telephone or any other important thing — and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others. He added his little mite — that is all he did.
"Well," I says, "I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough." She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.
"Silas, now," Esther Whitley had said, "would be a good one for you, Hannah. He's a mite on the old side, but he's steady, an' he's been wed before. He knows the ways of a woman better'n some."
Those trousers are a mite too big, but you'll soon grow into them.
A small or naughty person, or one people take pity on; rascal.
Usage- Colloquial
- often
- as a term of endearment
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Today's children at Christmas-time take a cast-off toy to the Toy Service held in many churches, and it is a pretty sight to watch those tiny mites clutching their toys and parting from them.j
“Tom told me that, but twasn't your fault, the little mite just couldn't wait to be born that's all.” A small smile played on Leah's lips.
Noun
a slight but appreciable amount
- Broader terms
- Examples
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this dish could use a touch of garlic
any of numerous very small to minute arachnids often infesting animals or plants or stored foods
- Broader terms