(superl.) Imperfectly developed in size or vigor; small and feeble; inferior; petty.
(n.) A youth; a novice.
Example Sentences:
(1) She puts much of the ongoing disaster down to what she calls "a severe case of management capture", the puny powers possessed by the Co-op's members to hold anyone at the top to account, and its hopelessly complicated structure.
(2) He was so puny, not like the macho pictures you see of him riding a horse bareback, or fishing barechested," she said.
(3) When they first encounter their "admirer and pupil Zola" he strikes them as a "worn-out Normalien, at once sturdy and puny" but with "a vibrant note of pungent determination and furious energy".
(4) Then again, this is the Labour party we are talking about, and the policies supposed to lead us there are, so far, distinctly puny.
(5) As for forcing people to move, the new tax would be puny compared with the rates.
(6) Ministers keep boasting of the puny £100m transitional fund, supposed to tide charities over, but to what?
(7) (I say they, not we, because the Guardian is always a puny counterweight to these massed ranks on the right).
(8) Roosevelt's programme to rebuild war-torn Europe cost around 5% of US GDP – the lofty comparison only underlines the puniness of the euro version and elicits a snort of derision from newsrooms and trading floors across Europe.
(9) Abbott said the declaration of a caliphate showed that “Islamic State wants to emulate Mohammed whose early campaigns would have looked just as puny to the great powers of his day”.
(10) Those powers are puny compared to the ones they have willingly given away.
(11) When the American Film Institute bestowed the Lifetime Achievement Award upon Lean in 1990 (he made the trip to LA despite failing health), Spielberg paid tribute from the stage, saying of Lawrence...: 'It made me feel puny.
(12) Such abilities could transform our puny electronic equipment into a new generation of micro-scale devices.
(13) In ways that are measurable on a daily basis the post of mayor, directly accountable to the electorate, has improved the quality of life for Londoners, even if in its early phase it had puny powers and deserves more now.
(14) Donald Trump barely capable of squeezing wealth on to puny official form On Wednesday afternoon, Donald Trump announced that he had filed a personal financial disclosure with the Federal Election Commission, the last step needed to secure his presence on stage in the first Republican presidential debate in Cleveland on 6 August.
(15) Completely untroubled by United's puny attacking efforts after the opening 15 minutes, Barcelona kept swarming forward.
(16) But in 1908 their fortunes were on the up: Sydney had just got Charlie his break with the famous Fred Karno company and despite the impressario’s doubts about the “pale, puny, sullen-looking youngster”, he was an instant hit with audiences.
(17) So, too, have regional broadcasters whose vast workforces can dwarf their puny audience shares.
(18) The team's puny total of 15 Premier League goals should alarm City [West Brom and Blackpool have both scored more] and in the long term there must be an increased verve if they are to grasp some silverware.
(19) They have resorted to denial and to aligning themselves with the puny flag-waving of the Europhobes, who were out in force in this week's rebellion against David Cameron , hardly an arch federast.
(20) It had lost most of its territory in France and, in comparison to bold and dynamic Spain, was decidedly puny.
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.