SMALL FRY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does small fry mean? 

• SMALL FRY (noun)
  The noun SMALL FRY has 2 senses:

1. someone who is small and insignificant

2. a young person of either sex

  Familiarity information: SMALL FRY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SMALL FRY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who is small and insignificant

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

pip-squeak; small fry; squirt

Hypernyms ("small fry" is a kind of...):

cipher; cypher; nobody; nonentity (a person of no influence)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A young person of either sex

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

child; fry; kid; minor; nestling; nipper; shaver; small fry; tiddler; tike; tyke; youngster

Context example:

'tiddler' is a British term for youngster

Hypernyms ("small fry" is a kind of...):

juvenile; juvenile person (a young person, not fully developed)

Meronyms (parts of "small fry"):

child's body (the body of a human child)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "small fry"):

peanut (a young child who is small for his age)

street child; waif (a homeless child especially one forsaken or orphaned)

urchin (poor and often mischievous city child)

bambino; toddler; tot; yearling (a young child)

sprog (a child)

silly (a word used for misbehaving children)

kindergartener; kindergartner; preschooler (a child who attends a preschool or kindergarten)

poster child (a child afflicted by some disease or deformity whose picture is used on posters to raise money for charitable purposes)

picaninny; piccaninny; pickaninny ((ethnic slur) offensive term for a Black child)

bairn (a child: son or daughter)

orphan (a child who has lost both parents)

kiddie; kiddy (informal term for a young child)

imp; monkey; rapscallion; rascal; scalawag; scallywag; scamp (one who is playfully mischievous)

foster-child; foster child; fosterling (a child who is raised by foster parents)

child prodigy; infant prodigy; wonder child (a prodigy whose talents are recognized at an early age)

changeling (a child secretly exchanged for another in infancy)

buster (a robust child)

 Context examples 

There are numerous small fry, but few who would handle so big an affair.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

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.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)