| 释义 |
less SMALLER AMOUNTlesdeterminer, pronoun, adv [not gradable]a smaller amount (of); not so much, or to a smaller degree较小的，较少的Most of the women there were aged forty or less.这些妇女中大部分是在40岁或40岁以下。We must try to spend less money.我们必须想办法少花点钱。You should work more and talk less.你应该多做事，少说话。I eat less chocolate and fewer biscuits than I used to.我巧克力和饼干比过去吃得少。We had walked less than three kilometres when Robert said he wanted to rest.我们才走了不到三公里，罗伯特就说他想要休息。Getting out of bed in summer is less difficult than in winter.夏天从床上爬起来要比冬天容易得多。I think he was being less than honest (= not at all honest) with me.我觉得他对我一点儿都不诚实。If something happens less and less it becomes gradually not so frequent or smaller in amount.越来越少She phones me less and less.她给我打电话的次数越来越少。His uncle is less and less able to look after himself.他叔叔越来越无法照料他自己。(fml) You say much less or still less to make a negative statement stronger.更不用说At the age of fourteen I had never even been on a train, much less an aircraft.我14岁时还没有乘过火车，更不用说坐过飞机了。You say no less than to show your surprise at a large number.不下于There were no less than a thousand people there buying tickets.买票的人有上千个。(humorous) You can use no less to show your surprise or admiration at the importance of someone or something.竟然（表示惊奇或赞叹）Who should arrive at the party but the Prime Minister, no less!想不到首相大驾亲临了聚会。You can say the less to show that two things are connected in a particular way.越不（表示两者具有某种相关性）The more she hears about the place, the less she wants to go there.她对该地方了解得越多，就越不想去。The less said about this unpleasant business, the better.这件不愉快的事提得越少越好。It is quite common for English speakers to use 'less'before countable nouns, meaning 'not so many'较少的The trees have produced less apples this year.今年苹果树产量减少。But this is traditionally considered bad English. The standard word for 'not so many'is 'fewer'. The trees have produced fewer apples this year. The standard use of 'less'is before uncountable nouns, meaning 'not so much'(标准用法置于不可数名词前)Give me less cream, please.请少给我点奶油。
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