wee1
/wiː
/adjective (weer /ˈwiːə/, weest /ˈwiːɪst/) chiefly Scottish
Little: when I was just a wee bairn the lyrics are a wee bit too sweet and sentimental...
- But some of them are a wee bit tired now, which is understandable in players so young.
- Now wait on a minute, I'm not suggesting anything even a wee bit subversive.
- Jason had been in the kitchen for at least 5 minutes, and Sarah was getting a wee bit impatient.
Synonyms
little, small, tiny, minute, miniature, small-scale, compact, mini, undersized, diminutive, dwarf, midget, Lilliputian, infinitesimal, microscopic, nanoscopic, minuscule, bijou, toy;
trivial, trifling, negligible, insignificant, unimportant, minor, of no account, of no consequence, of no importance, not worth bothering about, not worth mentioning, inconsequential, minimal, inappreciable, imperceptible, nugatory, petty
informal teeny, teeny-weeny, teensy, teensy-weensy, itsy-bitsy, half-pint, dinky, piddling, piffling
British informal titchy
North American informal little-bitty, vest-pocket
Origin
Middle English (originally a noun use in Scots, usually as a little wee 'a little bit'): from Old English wēg(e) (see wey).
Rhymes
wee2
/wiː/informal, chiefly British
noun [mass noun]
1Urine: there was wee all over the floor...
- To quote Dave, ‘it smelt of camel wee.’
- The cake was legendary, the seats smelled of wee, the toilets were foul, but the film programme was diverse and amazing, and the staff are great people.
- I'm worried that at some point, someone's got the purpose of those two rooms mixed up, as the stench of wee in the kitchen is unbelievable.
1.1 [count noun] An act of urinating: I went in for a wee...
- Every so often they stopped and everybody got off and had a wee on the side of the road.
- Why is it that I always get stuck in traffic jams on dual carriageways, where it is impossible to do a U-turn (or anything else about it), when I am dying for a wee?
- ‘We were miles from anywhere and I needed a wee,’ she told him.
verb (wees, weeing, weed) [no object]
Urinate.Mummy comes in and takes her top and knickers off when she is drunk and wees on the carpet....
- At midday the approach to the park was a familiar pre-rock concert landscape of men weeing under trees, jocular police and a revivalist with a megaphone: ‘I used to be a sinner like you; now I'm a winner.’
- Of course, it's all wonderfully shabby chic, with several large holes in the carpet and inadvertent additions from the couple's small black pug, which waddles about, snorting and, occasionally, weeing.
Origin
1930s: imitative.