less than no time Definition

less
adj

1. denoting a smaller size, quantity, duration, etc.

Example: drank less wine than you
2. colloq
Fewer in number. See note.
Example: smoke less cigarettes

adverb

1. Not so much; to a smaller extent.

Example: exercises less nowadays

pronoun

1. A smaller amount or number.

Example: tried to eat less

prep

1. Without; minus.

Example: £100 less the discount

Idiom: less than no time

jocular
A very short time indeed.

Idiom: much less

Used to link alternatives so that the extent of one's disapproval, surprise, etc is emphasized:.
Example: didn't even cut the grass, much less do the weeding

Idiom: no less

usually ironic
Tagged on, usually after a title, a well-known name, etc in order to hint that the person, thing or action concerned is not really as highly respected as might be supposed:.
Example: a compliment from the director, no less

usually contemptuous
Tagged on, usually at the end of a sentence, in order to devalue what has just been said:.
Example: actually worked a full week, no less

Idiom: nothing less than

As much as; tantamount to.
Example: amounts to nothing less than a swindle

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon læssa.

Info:

○ Less is a grammatically complex word with several part-of-speech functions, as the entry shows. Its use overlaps with fewer when it qualifies plural nouns, especially in conversation:?Strictly, fewer is more correct in this case. The reason less is used here instead of fewer is that the total amount predominates in the mind over the plurality implied by the strict grammar of the noun.

This is especially true

○ when measurements (including time and distance) and words like dozen, hundred, etc, are used,

○ when less is to be identified with a singular or indivisible subject,

○ and when the construction is less than:

○ In all these cases, fewer would be unidiomatic or even ungrammatical, and not typical of current English.