2.the lesser of two evils (also the lesser evil)CHOOSE the less unpleasant or harmful of two unpleasant choices 两害之较轻者
Examples from the Corpus
the lesser of two evils• Mansfield saw the difficulty in reconciling the two principles, but thought that certainty was the lesser of two evils.• So people go to the pollsconvinced their only choice is the lesser of two evils.• They regarded the ditching of a widely respectedChancellor, in somewhat undignified circumstances, as the lesser of two evils.• While not particularly welcome, the black knight is considered the lesser of two evils.• At least they chose the lesser of two evils, but even so Tankmanaged to create havoc.
3.HB technical used in the names of some types of animal, bird, or plant that are slightly smaller than the main type 略小的〔用于动植物名称中,表示比主要品种略小〕
to a lesser extent/degree• All of these suffer from the transfer problem already mentioned, though to a lesser extent.• I feel the same way about ballet and, to a lesser extent, basketball.• Some techniques were employed to a lesser extent but still provide invaluablecomparative results.• Fear and, to a lesser extent, greed are what make money move.• In water, and to a lesser extent in forests, the first of these factors is light.• The arts, too, have been transformed by moderntechnology, though to a lesser extent than industry.• The cases of Corvan, and to a lesser extent that of early Elvis Presley, are relatively straightforward to analyse.• What is meant by science in this case is of course the physical sciences and to a lesser degree the biological sciences.