to pay sb a pittance
付给某人菲薄的工资
to work for a pittance
为一点小钱而工作
1.少量食物;少量收入
1.an amount of money that is so small that it seems unfair
1.if both girls had married, this beauty would have had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to a very serious extent.
所以很明显，如果两个女孩都结婚了，这好人就只剩下很少的薪俸了，而且其中一个就可能把他推到严重的境地。
2.Fund managers, who allocated a pittance to commodities a few years ago, now put up to 5% of their cash into them.
几年前，基金经理将很小一部分资金用于商品（投机）领域，如今已经增加到5%了。
3.At the moment mainland residents can legally move only a pittance abroad in any given year.
目前，中国大陆的居民每年通过合法的方式只能够转移少量的资金到海外。
4.They might be well-to-do, but their finances were a pittance in comparison with the Culhances'.
他们会富裕的，但是与卡亨斯家族相比，他们的钱财是很微薄的。
5.But together they owned a mere 1. 2 percent of the company, a pittance given the size of those investment companies.
但是这两家合计仅拥有其1.2%的股份，考虑到这两家投资公司的规模，这点持有量实在少得多可怜。
6.The shrewd Hutt kept Barada forever in his debt by paying him a pittance yet charging him room and board.
精明的赫特人给他住处和食物，但只支付微薄的工资，让他永远债台高筑。
7.Although many of the poorest now get some kind of government support, it is only a pittance.
虽然现在许多最贫穷的人得到政府的一些帮助，但是那仅仅是小小的施舍。
8.According to Prof Mathews, these illegal workers carry the economy of Chungking Mansions as they are willing to work for a pittance.
麦登高表示，这些非法劳工撑起了重庆大厦的经济，他们愿以微薄的薪水干活。
9.The pittance your father used to pay me as rent won't even keep me in tea.
当年你爸爸给我的那点租钱，还不够我喝茶用的呢。
10.So $50, 000 might be a fortune in a small town, but a mere pittance in a big city.
所以，50,000美元可能在一个小镇是一笔财富，但是在大城市仅仅是微薄的报酬。