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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LESS, for unless. [Not in use.]
LESS, A terminating syllable of many nouns and some adjectives. Hence it is a privative word, denoting destitution; as a witless man, a man destitute of wit; childless, without children; fatherless; faithless; penniless; lawless, etc.
LESS, a. Smaller; not so large or great; as a less quantity or number; a horse of less size or value. We are all destined to suffer affliction in a greater or less degree.
LESS, adv. Not so much; in a smaller or lower degree; as less bright or loud; less beautiful; less obliging; less careful. The less a man praises himself, the more disposed are others to praise him.
LESS, n.
1. Not so much.
They gathered some more, some less. Exodus 16.
2. An inferior.
The less is blessed by the better. Hebrews 7.
LESS, v.t. To make less. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
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" [ant: more than, more]
2: (usually preceded by `no') lower in quality; "no less than perfect"
3: (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" adv
1: used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs; "less interesting"; "less expensive"; "less quickly" [syn: less, to a lesser extent] [ant: more, to a greater extent]
2: comparative of little; "she walks less than she should"; "he works less these days" [ant: more]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective, comparative of (I){little} Etymology: Middle English, partly from Old English l?s, adverb & noun; partly from l?ssa, adjective; akin to Old Frisian l?s less Date: before 12th century 1. constituting a more limited number or amount <less than three> <less than half done> 2. of lower rank, degree, or importance <no less a person than the president himself> 3. a. of reduced size, extent, or degree b. more limited in quantity <in less time> Usage: The traditional view is that less applies to matters of degree, value, or amount and modifies collective nouns, mass nouns, or nouns denoting an abstract whole while fewer applies to matters of number and modifies plural nouns. Less has been used to modify plural nouns since the days of King Alfred and the usage, though roundly decried, appears to be increasing. Less is more likely than fewer to modify plural nouns when distances, sums of money, and a few fixed phrases are involved <less than 100 miles> <an investment of less than $2000> <in 25 words or less> and as likely as fewer to modify periods of time <in less (or fewer) than four hours>. II. adverb, comparative of (II){little} Date: before 12th century to a lesser extent or degree III. noun (plural less) Date: before 12th century 1. a smaller portion or quantity 2. something of less importance IV. preposition Date: 15th century diminished by ; minus

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj., adv., n., & prep. --adj. 1 smaller in extent, degree, duration, number, etc. (of less importance; in a less degree). 2 of smaller quantity, not so much (opp. MORE) (find less difficulty; eat less meat). 3 disp. fewer (eat less biscuits). 4 of lower rank etc. (no less a person than; James the Less). --adv. to a smaller extent, in a lower degree. --n. a smaller amount or quantity or number (cannot take less; for less than £10; is little less than disgraceful). --prep. minus (made £1,000 less tax). Phrases and idioms: in less than no time joc. very quickly or soon. much (or still) less with even greater force of denial (do not suspect him of negligence, much less of dishonesty). Etymology: OE læssa (adj.), læs (adv.), f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Less Less (l[e^]s), conj. Unless. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Less Less, a. [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, n. Thus in less [time] than a hundred years from the coming of Augustine, all England became Christian. --E. A. Freeman.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Less Less, adv. [AS. l[=ae]s. See Less, adj., and cf. Lest.] Not so much; in a smaller or lower degree; as, less bright or loud; less beautiful.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Less Less, n. 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Less Less, v. t. To make less; to lessen. [Obs.] --Gower.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. Note: 'Less' is often considered to be the comparative form of 'little'. 1. You use less to indicate that there is a smaller amount of something than before or than average. You can use 'a little', 'a lot', 'a bit', 'far', and 'much' in front of less. People should eat less fat to reduce the risk of heart disease. ...a dishwasher that uses less water and electricity than older machines... ? more DET: DET n-uncount • Less is also a pronoun. Borrowers are striving to ease their financial position by spending less and saving more. ? more PRON • Less is also a quantifier. Last year less of the money went into high-technology companies... ? more QUANT: QUANT of def-n-uncount/sing 2. You use less than before a number or amount to say that the actual number or amount is smaller than this. Motorways actually cover less than 0.1 percent of the countryside... Less than a half hour later he returned upstairs. PREP-PHRASE: PREP amount 3. You use less to indicate that something or someone has a smaller amount of a quality than they used to or than is average or usual. Other amenities, less commonly available, include a library and exercise room... Poverty is less of a problem now than it used to be. ? more ADV: ADV adj/adv, ADV of a n 4. If you say that something is less one thing than another, you mean that it is like the second thing rather than the first. At first sight it looked less like a capital city than a mining camp... ADV: ADV group than group/cl 5. If you do something less than before or less than someone else, you do it to a smaller extent or not as often. We are eating more and exercising less... I see less of any of my friends than I used to. ? more ADV: ADV with v 6. You use the expressions still less, much less, and even less after a negative statement in order to introduce and emphasize a further statement, and to make it negative too. (FORMAL) I never talked about it, still less about her... The boy didn't have a girlfriend, much less a wife. PHRASE [emphasis] 7. When you are referring to amounts, you use less in front of a number or quantity to indicate that it is to be subtracted from another number or quantity already mentioned. ...Boyton Financial Services Fees: £750, less £400... Company car drivers will pay between ten and twenty five percent, less tax. = minus ? plus PREP 8. You use less than to say that something does not have a particular quality. For example, if you describe something as less than perfect, you mean that it is not perfect at all. Her greeting was less than enthusiastic... Her advice has frequently been less than wholly helpful. PHRASE: PHR adj/adv [emphasis] 9. You use no less than before an amount to indicate that the amount is larger than you expected. No less than 35 per cent of the country is protected in the form of parks and nature sanctuaries... He is lined up for no less than four US television interviews. PHRASE: PHR amount [emphasis] 10. couldn't care less: see care more or less: see more

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Smaller, inferior. II. ad. Not so much, in a less degree. III. n. Not so much, smaller quantity, less amount.

Moby Thesaurus

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