small change
English
editPronunciation
editNoun
edit- Coins of little value kept in one's pocket or bag, ready for small purchases.
- Synonyms: pocket change, loose change, spare change; pocket shrapnel (slang), shrapnel (slang)
- Hypernyms: change, coins
- Holonyms: pocket money, spending money, walk-around money, walking-around money; pin money
- (idiomatic) A minor or insignificant amount of money.
- Synonyms: pocket change, loose change, spare change; chump change; pittance; coffee money
- The cost of toothpaste is small change compared to the cost of dental work.
- 1869, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, chapter XI, in Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, […], →OCLC:
- 'Cousin Tom,' said mother, and trying to get so that Annie and I could not hear her; 'it would be a sad and unkinlike thing for you to despise our dwelling-house. We cannot entertain you, as the lordly inns on the road do; and we have small change of victuals.
- (idiomatic, by extension) A person or thing of little importance or value.
- Synonyms: small-timer, small fry, small potatoes, nobody
- 1988 December 14, Vincent Canby, “Movie Review: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, in New York Times, retrieved 25 May 2016:
- He's a self-satisfied klutz who aspires to be a con artist. . . . Compared with Lawrence, Freddy is small change.
Usage notes
editThis term can also be used in the negative to indicate a great deal of money:
- The car he wants costs $38,000, and that's no small change.
Related terms
editTranslations
edita minor or insignificant amount of money — see also change
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