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.
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.
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.
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
- it takes a village
- village
- teach a man to fish
- the best-laid plans
- the best-laid plans go astray
- the best-laid plans of mice and men
- best-laid plans go astray, the
- for want of a nail
- For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse ...
- an ounce of discretion is worth a pound of wit