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widow's mite

American

noun

a small contribution given cheerfully by one who can ill afford it. Mark 12:41–44.

widow's mite British

noun

a small contribution given by a person who has very little

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of widow's mite

First recorded in 1585–95

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One group called themselves the Ladies Mite Society, after the Bible story of the widow’s mite.

From Washington Times • Nov. 6, 2014

Shall she pinch and scrape on a widow's mite, Or rank with other impoverished lands Labor M.P.

From Time Magazine Archive

What they had given her for her husband's vindication, they denied her as her widow's mite.

From Time Magazine Archive

Many a widow's mite, many a tot's tithe swells the total.

From Time Magazine Archive

It will be plain and unadorned, but it will at least have the merit of sincerity, and, like the widow's mite, be all that I can give.

From Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of William H. F. Lee (A Representative from Virginia) Delivered in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, Fifty-Second Congress, First Session by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023