What's the difference between minuscule and small?

Minuscule


Definition:

  • (n.) Any very small, minute object.
  • (n.) A small Roman letter which is neither capital nor uncial; a manuscript written in such letters.
  • (a.) Of the size and style of minuscules; written in minuscules.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Lloyds TSB, Cheltenham & Gloucester and Nationwide have SVRs of 2.5% while the Woolwich transfers existing customers to a tracker of base rate plus 0.95% - a pay rate of a minuscule 1.44%.
  • (2) "I don't know what the cost is but compared with the rewards it is absolutely minuscule," he said.
  • (3) If he was on the verge of becoming a "national treasure" to the minuscule percentage of the nation who could identify him by name were they shown a picture of him, this latest episode will have reminded them that there really are bigger and better idiots in public life to get behind.
  • (4) The bacterium is spread by minuscule insects that infect trees while feeding off the leaves.
  • (5) When you take out a share of those 31 homes for shared ownership, 80% market rent homes, and starter homes, each of which developers will prioritise as they are more lucrative, the number left for genuinely affordable social rent is minuscule, if it exists at all.
  • (6) Bill-O said that there were roughly 200 more white police shooting victims in 2013 than black police shooting victims, but that argument’s a non-starter when you consider there are about 185 million more white people in the United States , even if you call the problem “minuscule” .
  • (7) "It's possible, but the chance of that is absolutely minuscule," says Dr Stephen Woodward of the University of Aberdeen, who has been studying forest pathology for 30 years.
  • (8) We are living in a golden era for species-hunters, if you like your species minuscule and obscure.
  • (9) When they drive you from the detention centre to the courthouse, this is what happens: reveille even before the communal breakfast, stewing in your own sweat while hunched over in the "beaker" [a minuscule isolation cell for special prisoners inside the prisoner transport lorry], transport through the Moscow traffic jams – a minimum of two hours.
  • (10) The $465 application fee, while minuscule to most middle-class Americans, has played a large role in preventing young undocumented immigrants from applying for work permits.
  • (11) We studied 35 adult human cadaver specimens for histologic and infrared photographic transillumination evidence of what we have identified as the minuscule submucous cleft palate.
  • (12) Compared to the streaming video services, BitTorrent's portion of traffic is minuscule, at just over 4%.
  • (13) In all but the most minuscule number of cases, those pills would have done nothing more harmful than inflict some loss of sleep.
  • (14) Ironically, Ken Livingstone's policy of letting developers build high-density and tall (in exchange for a minuscule trickle of "social" housing) may have helped turf him out of power, a possibility that Labour might do well to ponder.
  • (15) Given the other benefits of estrogen replacement therapy, this risk is extremely small and can be reduced to a minuscule level by encouraging postmenopausal women to eat judiciously and well and to engage in a regular and meaningful exercise program.
  • (16) In a town like Beverly Hills, with almost no industry and a minuscule tax base, what makes civic initiatives possible is also what denies many people their freedom: tickets, and lots of them.
  • (17) If your prime minister gives me talk about democracy, parliament and constitutions, he, his parliament and his constitution may not last very long.” Russell Caplan London • The size of the Greek economy being minuscule in comparison to the major economies in the EU, the only threat to world finance of a Syriza victory is political.
  • (18) He said the Advanced Detecting Equipment (ADE) he developed at his Somerset farm could pick up the most minuscule traces of explosives, drugs, ivory and even money.
  • (19) In the p-AF, both caused a small increase (delta = 1.5); however, this increase was minuscule compared with the large increase in the d-AF (delta = 41).
  • (20) The number of true refugees is minuscule: it’s a few days of flights into Heathrow.

Small


Definition:

  • (superl.) Having little size, compared with other things of the same kind; little in quantity or degree; diminutive; not large or extended in dimension; not great; not much; inconsiderable; as, a small man; a small river.
  • (superl.) Being of slight consequence; feeble in influence or importance; unimportant; trivial; insignificant; as, a small fault; a small business.
  • (superl.) Envincing little worth or ability; not large-minded; -- sometimes, in reproach, paltry; mean.
  • (superl.) Not prolonged in duration; not extended in time; short; as, after a small space.
  • (superl.) Weak; slender; fine; gentle; soft; not loud.
  • (adv.) In or to small extent, quantity, or degree; little; slightly.
  • (adv.) Not loudly; faintly; timidly.
  • (n.) The small or slender part of a thing; as, the small of the leg or of the back.
  • (n.) Smallclothes.
  • (n.) Same as Little go. See under Little, a.
  • (v. t.) To make little or less.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The effect of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) on growth of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines was studied.
  • (2) Such a signal must be due to a small ferromagnetic crystal formed when the nerve is subjected to pressure, such as that due to mechanical injury.
  • (3) The Na+ ionophore, gramicidin, had a small but significant inhibitory effect on Na(+)-dependent KG uptake, demonstrating that KG uptake was not the result of an intravesicular positive Na+ diffusion potential.
  • (4) For some time now, public opinion polls have revealed Americans' strong preference to live in comparatively small cities, towns, and rural areas rather than in large cities.
  • (5) The predicted non-Lorentzian line shapes and widths were found to be in good agreement with experimental results, indicating that the local orientational order (called "packing" by many workers) in the bilayers of small vesicles and in multilamellar membranes is substantially the same.
  • (6) If Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, who bought the island in 1738, were to return today he would doubtless recognise the scene, though he might be surprised that his small private buildings have grown into a sizable hotel.
  • (7) We conclude that chronic emphysema produced in dogs by aerosol administration of papain results in elevated pulmonary artery pressure, which is characterized pathologically by medial hypertrophy of small pulmonary arteries.
  • (8) As the percentage of rabbit feed is very small compared to the bulk of animal feeds, there is a fair chance that rabbit feed will be contaminated with constituents (additives) of batches previously prepared for other animals.
  • (9) The extent of the infectious process was limited, however, because the life span of the cultures was not significantly shortened, the yields of infectious virus per immunofluorescent cell were at all times low, and most infected cells contained only a few well-delineated small masses of antigen, suggestive of an abortive infection.
  • (10) The small units described here could be inhibitory interneurons which convert the excitatory response of large units into inhibition.
  • (11) Early stabilisation may not ensure normal development but even early splinting carries a small risk of avascular necrosis.
  • (12) Twenty patients with non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma were prospectively studied for intrathoracic lymphadenopathy using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
  • (13) In addition, KM231 could detect a small amount of the antigen ganglioside in human gastric normal and cancerous mucosa and in gastric cancer cell lines by HPTLC-immunostaining.
  • (14) Two small populations of GLY + neurons were observed outside of the named nuclei of the SOC; one was located dorsal to the LSO, near its dorsal hilus, and the other was identified near the medial pole of the LSO.
  • (15) Because of the small number of patients reported in the world literature and lack of controlled studies, the treatment of small cell carcinoma of the larynx remains controversial; this retrospective analysis suggests that combination chemotherapy plus radiation offers the best chance for cure.
  • (16) Only small amounts of 3H oleic acid were converted.
  • (17) The pH gradient measured with dimethyloxazolidine-2,4-dione and acetylsalicylic acid was very small in both bacteria at a high pH above 8, and was not affected significantly by the addition of CCCP.
  • (18) The results also indicate that small lesions initially noted only on CT scans of the chest in children with Wilms' tumor frequently represent metastatic tumor.
  • (19) CT scan revealed a small calcified mass in the right maxillary sinus.
  • (20) We have previously shown that intratracheally instilled silica (quartz) produces both morphologic evidence of emphysema and small-airway changes, and functional evidence of airflow obstruction.