N. smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance) 643, mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity

V. be small, lie in a nutshell, diminish, (contract) 195

Adj. small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent

Adv. to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand

Phr. dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, "small sands the mountain, moments make the year", quantity by comparison with a similar object

N. changeableness, mutability, inconstancy, versatility, mobility, instability, unstable equilibrium, vacillation, fluctuation, vicissitude, alternation, restlessness, fidgets, disquiet, disquietude, inquietude, unrest, agitation, moon, proteus, chameleon, quicksilver, shifting sands, weathercock, harlequin, cynthia of the minute, april showers, wheel of fortune, transientness

V. fluctuate, vary, waver, flounder, flicker, flitter, flit, flutter, shift, shuffle, shake, totter, tremble, vacillate, wamble, turn and turn about, ring the changes, sway to and fro, shift to and fro, change and change about, waffle, blow with the wind (irresolute) 605, oscillate, vibrate between, two extremes, oscillate between, two extremes, alternate, have as many phases as the moon

Adj. changeable, changeful, changing, mutable, variable, checkered, ever changing, protean, proteiform|, versatile, unstaid, inconstant, unsteady, unstable, unfixed, unsettled, fluctuating, restless, agitated, erratic, fickle, irresolute, capricious, touch and go, inconsonant, fitful, spasmodic, vibratory, vagrant, wayward, desultory, afloat, alternating, alterable, plastic, mobile, transient, wavering

Adv. seesaw, off and on

Phr. "a rolling stone gathers no moss", pictra mossa non fa muschis, honores mutant mores, varium et mutabile semper femina

N. agitation, stir, tremor, shake, ripple, jog, jolt, jar, jerk, shock, succussion, trepidation, quiver, quaver, dance, jactitation|, quassation|, shuffling 7c, v, twitter, flicker, flutter, turbulence, perturbation, commotion, turmoil, disquiet, tumult, tumultuation|, hubbub, rout, bustle, fuss, racket, subsultus, staggers, megrims, epilepsy, fits, carphology, chorea, floccillation, the jerks, st. vitus's dance, tilmus, spasm, throe, throb, palpitation, convulsion, disturbance, chaos, restlessness, ferment, fermentation, ebullition, effervescence, hurly-burly, cahotage, tempest, storm, ground swell, heavy sea, whirlpool, vortex, whirlwind

V. be agitated &c, shake, tremble, tremble like an aspen leaf, quiver, quaver, quake, shiver, twitter, twire, writhe, toss, shuffle, tumble, stagger, bob, reel, sway, wag, waggle, wriggle, wriggle like an eel, dance, stumble, shamble, flounder, totter, flounce, flop, curvet, prance, cavort, squirm, throb, pulsate, beat, palpitate, go pitapat, flutter, flitter, flicker, bicker, bustle, ferment, effervesce, foam, boil, boil over, bubble up, simmer, toss about, jump about, jump like a parched pea, shake like an aspen leaf, shake to its center, shake to its foundations, be the sport of the winds and waves, reel to and fro like a drunken man, move from post to pillar and from pillar to post, drive from post to pillar and from pillar to post, keep between hawk and buzzard, agitate, shake, convulse, toss, tumble, bandy, wield, brandish, flap, flourish, whisk, jerk, hitch, jolt, jog, joggle, jostle, buffet, hustle, disturb, stir, shake up, churn, jounce, wallop, whip, vellicate

Adj. shaking, agitated, tremulous, desultory, subsultory|, saltatoric, quasative, shambling, giddy-paced, saltatory, convulsive, unquiet, restless, all of a twitter

Adv. by fits and starts, subsultorily|, per saltum, hop skip and jump, in convulsions, in fits

Phr. tempete dans un verre d'eau, words relating to matter