Fromsmall +fry, first use appears c. 1577, in the publications ofJohn Dee.
smallfry (pluralsmall fryorsmall fries)
- One or more small orimmaturefish.
- (informal) One or morechildren.
1952 August, Austin Edwards, “The Cranberry andSmall Fry Line”, inRailway Magazine, page556:After his death in 1950, his widow and a board of trustees who were left with responsibility of running the cranberry plant decided to continue the miniature railway's services to the "small fry", and it opened as usual on December 6, 1951.
- (idiomatic) One or morerelativelysmall andinsignificantindividuals orthings ofrelativelylittleconsequence,importance, orvalue.
- Synonyms:small potatoes,minnow,nobody,no one
- Antonym:big fish
The police did not arrest the drug dealer since he was asmall fry compared to his boss.
These slot machines are just thesmall fry. The big games are in the back room.
things or people of little importance
- “small fry”, inMerriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “small fry”, inCambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire:Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
- “small fry” inLongman Dictionary of Contemporary English,Longman.
- “small fry”, inCollins English Dictionary.
