All 3 Uses
belittle
in
The American Language, by Mencken
(Auto-generated)
- Words and phrases of distinctly American origin, such as /belittle/, /lengthy/, /lightning-rod/, /to darken one's doors/, /to bark up the wrong tree/, /to come out at the little end of the horn/, /blind tiger/, /cold snap/, /gay Quaker/, /gone coon/, /long sauce/, /pay dirt/, /small potatoes/, /some pumpkins/.†
- Jefferson, always hospitable to new words, used /to belittle/ in his "Notes on Virginia," and Thornton thinks that he coined it.†
*
- He gave the English their first taste of /to belittle/, one of the inventions of Thomas Jefferson.†
Definitions:
-
(1)
(belittle) to make someone or something seem unimportant
- (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)