smalls

noun

1. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, informal, plural, plural-only)Underwear.

   “He's in the garden hanging his smalls on the washing line.”

   “The smalls he was wearing were tight.”

   “Unkempt, bearded to the eyes, there he stood clutching his shapeless old cabbage-tree, in mud-stained jumper and threadbare smalls—the very spit of the unsuccessful digger.”

   “[…]there are also some great B&Bs and guesthouses where you can unpack a toothbrush and fresh set of smalls for the morning.”

   “They billowed in the sticky summer breeze, curved and enormous like the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Just when did my smalls become so impossibly large?”

2. (plural, plural-only)Small goods.

   “He reassured another questioner that B.R. were still deeply interested in smalls traffic, but said that there would have to be substantial changes in the mode of operation and that concentration of the traffic was essential.”

3. (dated, plural, plural-only)The preliminary examination for a degree.

   “You see, Miss Dodd, an university examination consists of several items: neglect but one, and Crichton himself would be ploughed; because brilliancy in your other papers is not allowed to count; that is how the most distinguished man of our day got ploughed for Smalls.”

4. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, informal, plural, plural-only)Ellipsis of small ads.

   “Provincial English papers still carry their “smalls” — want ads — on the first page.”

5. (form-of, plural)plural of small

verb

1. (form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person)third-person singular simple present indicative of small

name

1. (form-of, plural)plural of Small
2. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative spelling of Small.