bare minimum

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English

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Noun

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bare minimum

  1. The smallest possible quantity or the least fulfilling, but still adequate, condition that is required, acceptable, or suitable for some purpose.
    • 1852, Joseph Fletcher, “Statistics of the Farm School System of the Continent,”, in Journal of the Statistical Society of London, volume 15, number 1, page 32:
      The Belgian colonies, if they adhere to these limits, must provide for all their wants at a lower cost by one half than the French as a bare minimum.
    • 1948, D. B. Copland, “United States Policy in China,”, in Pacific Affairs, volume 21, number 4, page 344:
      It is the old problem of what a victor is to do with the vanquished, if the latter is to gain the bare minimum of economic independence.
    • 2006 November 1, Jean Friedman, “Can Bolivia's Revolution Pay Dividends?”, in Time:
      The foreign companies would punish Bolivia by refusing to invest and only sustaining the bare minimum of operations here.

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Derived terms

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