little friend

Definitions

1. A natural number which when added to another number equals 5.
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see little, friend.

Equivalents

Examples

“The little friend of 2 is 3 because 2 + 3 = 5.”

“In Sessions 6 and 7, the little friends (terminology that refers to the numbers that are missing to reach⟳ another number⟳, e.g., the number⟳ 1 is missing 4 to reach⟳ 5, so 1 is a little friend of 4) were applied in addition to being used when a calculation could not be performed directly because there were not enough pieces in the row to be added. In Sessions 8 and 9, the same little friends were used, but, in this case, when there are not enough pieces in the row to be subtracted.”

CEFR level