every little bit helps

every little bit helps

proverb Every contribution toward a goal is valuable, regardless of how small it may be. A: "I'm sorry, I can only donate $5 right now." B: "Oh, that's fine—every little bit helps!"

See also: bit, every, help, little

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

Every little bit helps.

Prov. Even the smallest amount is helpful. Tom: I can only give a dollar to your charity. Mary: That's OK. Every little bit helps. Jane gave me a pair of booties for my new baby. It's not much, but every little bit helps.

See also: bit, every, help, little

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

every little bit helps

Any contribution can be useful, as in He can only give us one day, but every little bit helps. This expression, with slightly different wording ( everything helps), dates from the late 1500s.

See also: bit, every, help, little

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

every little bit helps

Any tiny contribution to a cause, collection, or undertaking can be useful. This expression began life, according to the Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, as “Everything helps, quoth the wren when she pissed into the sea,” dated 1590. Another version, “Every little helps,” appeared in print in 1791 (in O’Keeffe’s play, Wild Oats, 5.3, “Here—it’s not much! But every little helps”). “Bit” appears to have been added in America in the early twentieth century. A. W. Upfield used it in The Man of Two Tribes (1956): “Every little bit helps.”

See also: bit, every, help, little

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer