lesser


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choose the lesser of two evils

To pick the less offensive of two undesirable options. I wasn't excited about going to a seminar all weekend, but I also didn't want to lose my license, so I chose the lesser of two evils and spent the weekend learning about new regulations in our field. Do you really want to get a demerit for not having your blazer? Just choose the lesser of two evils and tell the teacher you forgot it—maybe she'll take pity on you!
See also: choose, evil, lesser, of, two

lesser evil

The less offensive of two undesirable options. Both options are unpalatable, but the lesser evil, in this case, is selling the house. Polls show that the candidate is not well-liked, but is viewed as the lesser evil.
See also: evil, lesser

the lesser of two evils

The less offensive of two undesirable options. Both options are unpalatable, but the lesser of two evils, in this case, is selling the house. Polls show that the candidate is not well-liked, but is viewed as the lesser of two evils.
See also: evil, lesser, of, two

lesser (of the two)

the smaller one (of two); the one having the lesser amount. The last two pieces of pie were not quite the same size, and I chose the lesser of the two. Faced with a basket containing too much and one with too little, Tom chose the lesser.

lesser of two evils

the less bad thing of a pair of bad things. I didn't like either politician, so I voted for the lesser of two evils. Given the options of going out with someone I don't like and staying home and watching a boring television program, I chose the lesser of the two evils and watched television.
See also: evil, lesser, of, two

lesser of two evils

The somewhat less unpleasant of two poor choices. For example, I'd rather stay home and miss the picnic altogether than run into those nasty people-it's the lesser of two evils . This expression was already a proverb in ancient Greek and appeared in English by the late 1300s. Chaucer used it in Troilus and Cressida.
See also: evil, lesser, of, two

the lesser of two evils

or

the lesser evil

COMMON If you have to choose between two bad things, you can call the one which is less bad the lesser of two evils or the lesser evil. Should she choose life on the streets or the bad marriage? In the end it seemed the street was the lesser of two evils. In a continent where economic successes are rare, this sort of regime may seem a lesser evil than abject poverty.
See also: evil, lesser, of, two

the lesser evil (or the lesser of two evils)

the less harmful or unpleasant of two bad choices or possibilities.
See also: evil, lesser

the ˌlesser of two ˈevils

,

the ˌlesser ˈevil

the less unpleasant of two unpleasant choices: Neither candidate seemed capable of governing the country. People voted for him as the lesser of two evils.
See also: evil, lesser, of, two
References in periodicals archive ?
Responding to a question about the kinds of challenges that the Gulf's leaders were facing, Lesser said: "Navigating today's challenging world means a few things: It means helping to get the strategy and direction right, set the right priorities and set the right agenda, it means helping to make hard change really happen at scale and at speed and doing it in a way that enables the organisation to have sustained success.
BCG chief executive on Gulf: Making hard change happen at speed and scale
This note will argue the South Dakota Supreme Court erred when it held the prosecution's request for a last-minute jury instruction on second-degree murder as a lesser included offense of first-degree murder was permissible.
"CHARGING BY AMBUSH": AN ANALYSIS OF THE LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE DOCTRINE IN STATE V. MCCAHREN
To determine possible differences in bill morphology, the mandibles of 12 specimens each of turkey and lesser yellow-headed vultures were measured at the Louisiana State University, Museum of Natural Sciences (Fig.
Lesser yellow-headed vulture mandibular ecomorphology and feeding interactions at an established feeding site in Belize
Lesser argues for the 1603 Hamlet's "uncanny historicity" as a book that " 'belongs' as much to the early nineteenth century as the early seventeenth century" and proves "strangely disconnected from the intervening years" (10, 13).
Hamlet After Q1: An Uncanny History of the Shakespearean Text
Voting for the lesser of two evils is not like choosing to switch a runaway train to another track so it kills one person instead of five if you do nothing.
Lesser of two evils vote
Migration of the lesser trochanter after intramedullary fixation of a pertrochanteric fracture of the femur is extremely rare.
Lesser Trochanter Migration following Intramedullary Fixation of an Intertrochanteric Femur Fracture
Jackson, the Supreme Court of Missouri considered whether a trial court must instruct the jury regarding a lesser included offense.
To instruct, or not to instruct, that is the question: State v. Jackson
He added : "We look at what are the big things we need to do to keep ourselves competitive, and one of most essential is we need to better integrate ourselves in the growing economies we have all around us, to our east, our south and our north," Lesser said.
United States : WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS legislators urge for expanded high-speed rail's feasibility study
Lesser calls this discontinuity the "uncanny historicity" of Q1, because the book had the effects of a ghost on the editors, theater practitioners, and readers invested in the "received text," as Lesser calls Q2 and F, of the play.
Zachary Lesser. Hamlet after Q1: An Uncanny History of the Shakespearean Text
Critique: The debut novel of an obviously gifted storyteller, "Gods and Lesser Men" by P.
Gods and Lesser Men
Increased disappointment, lesser faith and sense of insecurity has made people end up their own lives, cutting and throwing their children away, showing the inhumanity by kidnapping and raping children, recording their anger by climbing electricity polls or by putting themselves on fire and so on.
Our lesser self
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham condemned the recent allegations raised by the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) about Iran's three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb.
Iran Slams PGCC Statement on Trio Islands
An interview with Maryellen Matthews by Carol Lesser
Testing early-stage embryos helps IVF patients avoid potential heartbreak: an interview with Maryellen Matthews
1] (thiamine), C (ascorbic acid), and E ([alpha]-tocopherol); and trace elements copper, selenium, and zinc for greater flamingos (Phoeniconaias [Phoenieopterus] rubeus) and lesser flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor).
J Zoo Wildl Med.: Serum concentrations of vitamins and trace elements in clinically healthy greater flamingos (Phoeniconaiais phoenicopterus rubeus) and lesser flamingos (Phoneniconaias minor)
Washington, May 20 ( ANI ): White men and women of European descent inherit common foot disorders, such as bunions (hallux valgus) and lesser toe deformities, including hammer or claw toe, a new study has revealed.
Common foot deformities like bunion could be inherited
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